A Life To Live
by Afrolady114
Summary: Usually time can heal all wounds. Sometimes it takes a fateful reunion of 2 friends. Separated for millions of years, secrets will be revealed; some more deadly than others. Transformers/many other universes. First FF. Rated T for now
1. Chapter 1: Intro

A Life to Live

Intro

"You really want to know?" I couldn't hide my enthusiasm.

"You really want to know what's going on in my head right now. You really do eh? Well I'll tell ya! Hatred, fear, death, suffering, guilt, loneliness, and sadness, I've experienced it all. _"_

_I have hated the reason why I was brought forth into this world since I can recall. I fear of losing my friends, family and loved ones because of what I am. The monster inside of me, and the mistakes I've made so far in this pathetic excuse I call a life. Personally I have always been shrouded in "The Cloak of Death." It seems that wherever I tread on this world, death follows in my footsteps. A reminder of what I am; what I was _**made**_ for. _

~OoOoOoO~

The elderly looking, grey haired African American reporter named Ray Hatchet was in the middle of a heated interview with me, about my status in this world. Everyone except for some of my closest friends were the only ones who were not against me. The rest of the world wanted me dead.

Stillness engulfed the cozy interview. Ray finally broke the silence when she asked, "Well, aren't you going to say anything?"

"You all want to know what my opinion is on this subject. Do you really think that I want to be rejected by the entire world? Of course not! All I want is the people of this world to respect my presence, that's it. I could care less if they don't like me. All I want is respect, nothing else."

"So do you think that the American people have given you this, _respect_?" The tone Ray said "respect" in irritated me. Lovely now I'm pissed.

"No I believe the people have not. I believe they judge me for what I am and what I'm capable of. People fear me." A hint of anger was obviously noticed in my tone. Ray was starting to become intimidated by my presence. A beat of sweat trickled down her brow. I chuckled.

Leaning forward in my chair, looking into her misty blue eyes that shone from the fluorescent light above, I saw a terrified little girl when lowering my voice to an almost inaudible tone, I stated, "They fear me because I have unnatural powers that a normal human being is not supposed to have. They fear of what I could do and _**can**_do."

An eerie silence fell upon the room. The hush of the room was so great, that the rolling of the video equipment off stage could be heard. Falling back into the studio's faded striped orange pattern of the chair, I folded my hands, waiting for the initial shock to pass.

Ray was distraught after those words that rode bluntly along my lips. She fluttered her eyelids, coming back into reality. "A-As I have been informed, that is exactly why the public is—"

"Fed up with me." I brusquely stated. A smirk fell upon my face.

"Well, I suppose it is time…" Slowly rising from my seat, I straightened out myself in a seemingly calm matter. I extended my left hand to "thank" the experienced reporter. Hesitantly, Ray extended her hand and cowardly saying, "T-Thank you for t-this interview."

~OoOoOoO~

The intense light of the sun blazed above me when I set foot outside. I squinted as my eyes traced out the tall translucent black rectangular blobs in the foreground. Outside seemed like a war zone compared to the nearly soundproof interview I just came out of. The city folk's jumbled vulgar shouts and complaints caught my attention. As my view finally cleared up, all I could see is the crumpled, stained black carpeting of the walkway that was in front of CNN headquarters. Apparently the police didn't do their job protecting the vinyl carpeting. Hump pathetic excuse for a task force.

Carelessly ambling my way down the dirtied up rug, I noticed to my left and right, that there was an endless "mob o' people". _No wonder why New York seemed so… Lively_ I thought to myself.

"WE DON'T NEED YOU!!"

"MURDERER!!"

I did not even give the effort to try and look at the rioting crowd. Even though I would gladly blast them, along with half of the population in the U.S. off the face of the planet—Sigh, every fricken day I ponder the rationale behind the reason why I choose to stay on this God forbidden planet.

"Bastards…" I mumbled beneath my breath.

I continued along my acquired target. A sleek, silver and blue colored space craft called an Arwing.

My method of transportation is _unusual_ compared to the preferred vehicular mode. Aka: driving a car technique. This model is more updated than those used by Fox and his Crew. I personally modified the Arwing to my likings by amping up its thrust capacity, firepower, and shielding. Even the ship itself was expanded by a good 20 feet so that I could carry more than just a few people.

Encased around my Arwing were the ever increasing rioters who wanted to give me a piece of their mind. Ignoring them, I climbed the right wing of my craft and effortlessly mounted in the pilot's seat. After closing the translucent aqua canopy, I fired up the duel plasma engines and vertically took off from the arranged platform that CNN had so graciously provided for my Arwing. Hovering for a few seconds I sighed noting the ring that was around my Arwing, now developed into a overcrowded circle below my craft.

I was at least 50 feet from the surface; I could still distinctly see the anger and hatred brewing among the people's faces below. A mournful expression dominated my face as I blasted off towards the only place that I knew I was truly accepted for what I have done to help for the good of others, home.

~OoOoOoO~

Flying overhead, I peered down at my hidden landing platform. From a untrained eye, it would appear like a _huge_ hill. Covered with multi-colored wildflowers, and long, healthy green grass, a portion the size of a private jet plane opened up. Making sure no one was around with a quick scan of the area, I gently guided my glistening Arwing into the hanger bay.

The twilight from the sky once around my aircraft and I eventually vanished. The bay that was once flushed with a beautiful hue of gold orange that shone off of all of the spare pieces of scrap metal that cluttered the floor, turned dark and decrepit just like an abandoned catacomb. A chill always seemed to overcome my body every time I landed. Too many painful memories, this feeling reminded me of…

My Arwing, stayed active only until the bay doors came to a complete close. A booming **"THUD"** was the signal to power down. Carefully I set my Arwing down on the launch pad facing the entrance to the outside that was now nowhere to be found. Steam from the landing gear filled the floor of the bay. I fell back in the pilot's seat. For some strange reason instead of opening the now opaque black canopy, I remained in my seat, thinking. I do not know why I did this but I began to think of my mom and friends. I really do not know exactly why I was meditating about _that_ subject. I shook my head trying to snap out of my unexpected trance.

"No… Not now." I thought to myself out loud.

~OoOoOoO~


	2. Chapter 2: Breaking Point

Chapter 1

**Breaking Point**

_2 Days Earlier_

Sapphire could not take it anymore. She HAD to get out, run away if needed. Her mind was racing through all of the excuses she managed to compile throughout the years, searching for a way to avoid any more "guardian" duties.

"Well Tom, what's the situation over here in the States?" Sapphire hastily demanded her senior intelligence officer, a 5' 9" worn torn ex-Marine, Thomas Alder. Easily in his late fifties, this was one person you would not want to piss off. His graying short black hair, emphasized his personality; a hard ass. Briefing was defiantly not one of his favorite duties, but by the look of his scarred, and ragged face, Thomas did not take any one of his responsibilities light heartedly.

His dimmed blue eyes narrowed slightly at Sapphires sudden outburst. "Accordin' to NSA, all that seems ta be a problem is the heightened Decepticon activity over in the East Coast, but the Autobots stationed in the U.S. should be able to—"

"_Should_ is the key word there Tom." Sapphire bluntly stated.

"Somethin' botherin' ya Sapphire? Cuz ya usually never nip back at others unless somethin's on yer mind. And don't try ta argue either, I can read ya like a book." Authority dominated Thomas's voice. All Sapphire could do was accept her fate and throw a lopsided grin towards Tom.

"Intel put you in charge for a reason." She sarcastically stated. "Yeah, I've got many things on my mind, no doubt about that, but something about all of this Decepticon activity is starting to worry me. What if the Autobots cannot handle all of these strategically placed raids occurring across the globe? To me, it seems as though Megatron is deliberately thinning out the Autobots' forces for a specific reason. He's planning something big that's for sure." A look full of concern fell upon Sapphire's face as she peered outside her office window overlooking Phoenix Arizona. The night sky seemed to empower the already jewel encrusted city below, making Phoenix light up even more.

"Well, if you're that concerned about this issue, go snoop around for a bit. No one will miss ya except for those damned reporters who never leaver yer side." Tom now leaned up against Sapphire's small brown desk, looking back over towards Sapphire, who was still staring outside the one and only window in her office.

She chuckled. _"Tom's right and this could be my one and only chance for me to finally get away from all of these stupid problems the United States, in general has. Come on now, giant thirty foot killer robots SHOULD be classified as a domestic threat now, should it?"_ Sapphire thought to herself.

* * *

"Optimus, we have a situation in New York." Prowl lifelessly admitted looking up at Teletraan 1.

"What is it Prowl? Decepticons? What would they want to do in such a heavily populated area?" Optimus Prime inquisitively asked his second-in-command. His hand scratched the bottom of his face plate.

"We are receiving reports from local authorities that Megatron himself has been sighted, and is the mastermind behind the recent Energon raids in New York." Prowl didn't dare to deviate his attention from Teletraan I to inform Optimus of the now increasing dilemma occurring over on the East Coast.

"Very well. Jazz?" Optimus opened up a comlink channel to contact the more laid back second-in-command.

"Jazz here. What is it Optimus?" Jazz cheerfully replied.

"Jazz, I need you to gather all available units on hand and assemble a strike force ASAP."

"On it Prime, only I think the only 'bots available right now are You, Prowl, Hound, Ironhide, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Blaster, and myself." Optimus looked down in frustration.

"Tell Ratchet to stay here in the Ark. Round up everyone else and tell them to meet me on the landing platform in 25 Klicks."

"Yes sir!" With that, Optimus closed his comlink channel and turned towards Prowl, who was feverishly typing on Teletraan 1.

"Prowl, contact Skyfire and tell him to come to the Ark—"

"I'm already on it sir. I'm just having some Interference with the weather." Prowl painfully stated. Prowl did not want to waste anymore time waiting for the Decepticons to make their move.

"Prowl, just make sure you contact Skyfire. When you do contact me." Optimus tried to hide the anger brewing in his voice.

"On it." Prowl simply replied. His optics never faltered from Teletraan's giant screen, which now consisted of the schematics of New York's intertwining road networks.

* * *

Sapphire was staring into the full body mirror on the door outside to her room in her apartment. She decided to fly herself back home this night in her Arwing after she left U.S. Intel H.Q. in Phoenix. Her trip took roughly three hours. Now safely back in Grand Rapids, Sapphire decided to return to her three room apartment. Relaxing in her own home was a once in a blue moon opportunity she did not want to miss. The verb; relax, was a luxury in Sapphire's eyes now after she became Chief of U.S. Intel.

Earlier at her office, Sapphire pulled her mid-back length, deep brown loose curled hair into a puffball ponytail. Now it hung down revealing its true nature. A mess of tangles and split ends riddled her face, down past her shoulders.

"God, I'm a mess…" Sapphire moaned when she saw her mangled hair twist and turn all over her head. Her sky blue eyes were sunk in and begging Sapphire for at least a few hours of sleep to recuperate after countless hours staring at telecommunication screens. Sapphire yelped out in pain when she tried to brush out the tangled mess on top of her head.

"Who know that being appointed Chief of Intelligence for the United States would make me look like this?" Sapphire groggily uttered. Three days have passed since she had crashed in a make shift cot in her office. After that, Sapphire has ceased to stop for an ounce of rest. Her determination to finish what she began three days earlier, now affected her ability to keep up to beat with the rest of the world. Interviews with five different countries spread across the entire planet, in one week, now affected her physically, and mentally.

"_Two days… then I'm finally free."_ Sapphire kept on repeating in her conscious. In her standards, wearing a white, long sleeve blouse with a black pinstripe vest, coupled with navy blue slacks with white floral prints on the flares; was dressy. And she hated it with a passion. Sapphire was a tomboy, and dress codes meant torture to her.

Sapphire only had to comply with the codes and rules in her office for just two more days. After her final interview with CNN about Sapphire's perspective about being Earth's "guardian", she was going to resign from Intel. For good.

Sapphire paused detangling her hair. She spun around and chucked her hairbrush into the living room behind her. The reverberation of a lamp shattering echoed in the background. Her white knuckled fists dangled at her sides as if in anticipation of an upcoming battle between a rabid bull and herself.

"Damn it, the last time I've had any sleep was three freakin' days ago!" Sapphire angrily shouted to her bombarded living room. Sapphire hit her fists on the door frame to her room. Letting her head hang in disappointment, her memories brought her to a person—a robot Sapphire hoped she would encounter again. His name was Ratchet.

* * *

Prowl seemed to be always on edge for an incoming Decepticon attack, no matter where he was positioned. Prowl was sitting in Skyfire's control room in the loading bay. Two agonizing hours were left in the flight for New York. He hated to wait. With every passing moment that the Autobots were not in New York, gave the Decepticons more allotted time to formulate a more cunning, and deadly plan. Prowl defiantly felt like all control over any situation involving transportation across the country was well out of his hands. And he hated every single nanosecond of it.

Jazz noticed the distressed mech's body language and decided enough was enough. Seeing Prowl acting like a two year old sparkling was amusing, for a while. Now with New York only two hours away, Jazz seemed like this was an opportune time for him to try and calm down the tense police car.

"Hey Prowl." Prowl seemed to jump a bit, as if he was in a trance and turned around to the saboteur. "Relax for a bit why don't ya? Skyfire said we'll be over in New York in about a few hours." Jazz, with a lopsided grin, nonchalantly said. Jazz always seemed to pass on his snappy attitude to those who needed it the most. In this case, Prowl looked as if he needed a case full of it, for the time being.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna enjoy our time in New York City. I hear the humans down in the Big Apple know how to throw some crazy parties." Blaster chirped in, with his hands placed upon his hips.

"Is that all you ever think about Blaster? Nonstop Parties with the human ladies?" Hound playfully teased. Blaster who was roughly the same size as the green tracker, turned toward his direction with an expression clearly stating he did not appreciate Hound's comment.

"Hey, I've got feelings too ya know!" Blaster sneered.

"Save yer Energon fer the Decepticons instead on each other, ya glitch heads!" Ironhide demanded, stepping between the two mechs.

"Fine by me. I'll just be sittin' in the corner rustin' if ya'll need me." Blaster lamented as he trudged off to one of the tables, and transformed into his alt. mode; a red and yellow boom box. Jazz just laughed and walked up to Blaster. The two happy-go-lucky robots proceeded to jam out to some of Earth's rock music Blaster emitted from his stereos.

"Can you two please turn down that ruckus!? I'm trying to work here!" Wheeljack protested, and head fins flashing bright blue with every word. He glanced over to the only two robots, who seemed to be enjoying themselves on the flight inbound for New York. Components of Wheeljack's rifle were scattered all around his table. Wheeljack was fiddling with the internal wiring and such, trying to amp up his weapon. Wheeljack conceded in his efforts to quiet the two 'bots down after the song "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" was turned up.

Hound and Ironhide seemed to enjoy Wheeljack's misery. The Green and Red mechs chuckled and went off to occupy their down time. Prowl witness this drama unfold in the shadows. He could not understand his teammates during events like these. Prowl decided to take up Jazz's advice to "relax". Only Prowl's definition of relaxing was on another world compared to Jazz's.

Prowl walked off in silence to where the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime stood overlooking the flashing colors of the passing ground below through Skyfire's landing bay doors. If Prowl was going to talk to anyone, Prime would be the only mech who would understand his logic.

"Prime…" Prowl started. "We should be arriving in New York within the hour."

Optimus turned ever so slightly to Prowl and calmly replied, "Thank you for the update Prowl."

"Sir?"

"Yes, what is it Prowl?"

"I have a bad feeling about this mission sir." Optimus did not respond. He knew when something irked Prowl; his feelings never betrayed him or his fellow Autobots. "Megatron knows that he has spread out our forces dangerously thin across the planet."

"Yes, I'm aware of that Prowl."

"But what I don't understand is why doesn't Megatron just attack in some rural energy plant, rather than a densely populated city, filled with humans and federal authorities? Megatron's forces would have more maneuverability in the wide open country, but not in a city. This sudden change in Megatron's tactics just does not sound right."

"Unless…" Prowl was now lost in his thoughts, contemplating the confusing turn of events. Suddenly Prowl's optics widened when he came to his final conclusion.

"Prowl, I realize your concern for an immediate attack on the humans, but if Megatron is willing to risk human life to take us down, we MUST stop him before his plans are to be put into action." A prolonged silence fell between the two Autobots.

An hour passed when Skyfire's deep, booming voice interrupted the two mechs meditation. "Optimus we are now nearing New York City."

"Be on guard Skyfire for those Seekers." Before Optimus could turn his attention to Prowl, he was already making his way back to the other five Autobots to inform them of their current situation.

"Optimus! I'm picking up three Seekers en route for us! Brace for combat!"

"Autobots! Prepare for battle!" Optimus roared as he revealed his hidden blaster from a compartment in his back. The other Autobots were already in full battle mode before the Seekers opened fire on Skyfire's hull.

* * *

Authors Notes: Hey everyone! I hope you'll still keep on reading my story! The action is coming, don't worry about that! :D I hope I didn't bore you too much in this chapter. I'm going to try to update this story as fast as I can, and patience is very much appreciated!

FYI for those who didn't catch this, I used a Star Wars quote in this chapter. Can YOU find it? ^^


	3. Chapter 3: Greetings and Old Friends

Chapter 2

**Greetings and Old Friends**

_2 Hours later…_

"Ugh…" Optimus Prime moaned as his optics flickered on. He turned his head, only to realize that he was still inside of Skyfire—an unmoving Skyfire to be correct. Optimus swiftly came to the conclusion that Skyfire was shot down by those Decepticon Seekers.

"Skyfire…?" Optimus weakly asked. "Are you alright? What's your status?"

No response came from Skyfire.

"Skyfire?" Optimus said with more concern in his voice as he was tossing the panels and rocks that covered the lower section of his body.

"Optimus… I've ugh… been shot down, but I've managed to close the distance to New York. We are… five miles outside of the city…" Skyfire was fading, and fading fast.

"Save your strength Skyfire. The rest of us shall continue by foot. I'll contact Ratchet and let him know where you are so he can send out a team to come pick you up immediately." Optimus solemnly stated. The muffled sound of Blaster's confused voice startled Optimus as he realized that he was almost on top of a battered, but not broken Blaster.

"Ugh… did we win?" A disoriented Blaster questioned, as he rose from the debris while rubbing the back of his head.

"No we didn't Blaster. We got our afts handed to us." Jazz mournfully stated as he appeared out of nowhere behind Optimus and Blaster. Jazz, usually the comedy relief, was not in the mood for cracking a joke in front of Skyfire's current condition. Jazz, Optimus, and Blaster started to scan the area for other trapped Autobots when Jazz spotted a section of Hound's arm sticking out of a pile of boulders. Both Blaster and Jazz helped dig out the green tracker, and lift him up on his feet.

"Thanks guys. I always seem to have a knack to find myself buried beneath giant rocks." Hound weakly joked as the two 'bots lifted him up and out of the rubble.

Eventually, the rest of the Autobots rose from the trash heap known as Skyfire's landing bay. They all managed to climb their way out of the broken glass and shredded metal inside of Skyfire. Finally the Autobots were outside, and Wheeljack was feverishly inspecting Skyfire's battered jet form.

"Skyfire, can you fly at all?" Wheeljack nervously asked.

"No, I can't. Both of my engines have been severely damaged, and my right wing, as you can tell, is dug deep into the ground. I do not want to risk injuring myself even more if I transform. I'm sorry Wheeljack…"

"That's alright Skyfire, we'll try to free you and find a nice hiding spot for you until Ratchet can come by." Wheeljack reassuringly told Skyfire before softly patting his non-buried wing.

"Blaster, can you open up a—"Optimus started, but was interrupted by Blaster who seemed as if a Decepticon had him held at gunpoint.

"Guys?" Blaster shakily stated. "I'm picking up a—a transmission from someone."

"Well, put it on already!" Ironhide demanded, not seeing why Blaster was acting so jumpy from this transmission. Blaster quickly nodded and pressed the play button on his chest. A static noise was heard, but gradually, a female voice was heard, but broken apart from some kind of interference.

"…ello? … anyone… received… signal… Any survivors? … This is… phire… visual…"

"What the slag?" Jazz exclaimed and pointed up to the sky as a sleek, triangular shaped aircraft sped overhead. It passed on by, but then came around and started to begin its decent.

"What is that? I've never seen anything like it before." Hound admired as the aircraft hovered fifty feet away. Bit by bit, the craft began to descend.

"Well whatever it is, looks like we're gonna find out. It's landing." Jazz said, pointing over to the silvery blue aircraft.

"Should we ready our weapons Optimus?" Prowl, in a calm tone asked the sublime, but mute leader. Prowl was not going to take any chances with a foreign craft that could be a possible Decepticon, landing near their seriously injured friend. If this person or transformer was a threat; Prowl was going to risk life and limb to protect Skyfire from further harm.

"My scanners says it ain't a Decepticon, so it's defiantly man-made. Still, I've never seen that freaky thing buzzin' around in the sky before." Ironhide grumbled as he was typing on a hidden scanner on his right forearm.

"Well, if that thing was out for us, it would have already blown us up into scrap metal by now. Look, two laser cannons right below those blue wing thingies." Jazz pointed out.

As the Autobots were sucked into their thoughts and possible theories about the craft, every single one of them immediately froze their mental and verbal processing when the opaque canopy of the aircraft hissed open, straight up into the air. A female figure climbed out of the assumed pilot's seat, and jumped down onto one of the silver wings jutting out from both sides of the triangular-like frame of the aircraft. Minute amounts of light emitting from the sunrise behind the aircraft prevented the Autobots, at first, a clear visual on the individual. She was now leaning casually, back onto the right, violet colored, triangular wing guard; arms folded and one leg crossed over the other.

From the aircraft, came a booming, almost male like voice. "You robots look like ya'll need a hand!"

"Who are you? State your business!" Optimus shouted back toward the nameless female. None of the Autobots could see that the human girl had a devilish smile written across her face. Then, out of nowhere, she leapt into the air and was now thirty feet above her craft.

All of the Autobots were in awe at this human's physical abilities. Then in a bright bluish white light—she was gone. Baffled at how this human could simply vanish into thin air, some of them rubbed their optics just to make sure that what they just witnessed was in fact, a teleporting human. Blaster let out a terrified screech and jumped into arms of the equally spooked saboteur. Two feet in front of Blaster's face was the human girl who looked amused at the two frightened 'bots. The rest of the Autobots were just as surprised and taken off guard as Jazz and Blaster.

"Hahaha! Sorry if I scared ya there big boy. I couldn't resist myself!" The girl waved and happily said. She was levitating in front of the two "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo" Autobot posers. As the not-so-normal human was enjoying tormenting the two mechs, Prowl was the first to react. He pulled out his energy rifle and pointed it directly at the girl's head. Prowl did not appreciate this girl scaring his comrades. Both of his hands were on his rifle, ready to fire an electrical charge at this possible threat to the Autobots.

The girl turned her head sideways and glanced back at the over-sized gun that had its sights set on her skull. The glasses she had on reflected the sun's rays from the sunrise, and temporarily blinded Prowl. When his sight returned seconds later, the girl was nowhere to be found. Prowl frantically searched left and right scanning for the human girl, but when his optics met the Blaster and Jazz again, their optics were as large as ever.

"Now, is that any way to treat a lady?" A devilish whisper came right next to his left audio. Prowl jerked his head sharply to meet optic-to-eye with the female who was sitting cross legged on his left shoulder. She was looking back into Prowl's bright blue optics with her icy cold, dark blue eyes.

"Who are you?" Prowl demanded in a low and aggravated voice. He was now glaring at the smirking human who made herself comfortable on his shoulder. The girl sensed his frustration on his inability to figure out how she was able to infiltrate his defense with no effort at all.

"The name's Sapphire, and I'm not gonna hurt any of you unless you provoke me first." Sapphire said putting both arms behind her head. "And you are…?" Sapphire trailed off, looking over her half-framed black glasses with yellow streaks on the sides. Prowl's growing discomfort along with his inexperience to deal with a human as laid back as Sapphire, finally got to him. Before Prowl could protest, Optimus walked up in front of him and gently plucked Sapphire from Prowl, and placed her in his gigantic hand. Sapphire knew this was going to happen, but she was still taken aback at the immense size of Optimus Prime.

"My name is Optimus Prime. I am the leader of these Autobots. This one here is Prowl." Optimus nodded towards Prowl. Sapphire bent her head backwards to see him. Prowl's response was a tight smile that quickly faded into a straight mouth.

"And this is Mirage, Hound, Ironhide, and Wheeljack." Optimus said their names as he passed by each one of the Autobots. Sapphire happily waved to all of the friendly 'bots. The still shell shocked Autobots waved back awkwardly to Sapphire. She just smiled.

"These two who you scared senseless are Jazz and Blaster." Sapphire waved cutely towards the still stunned Autobots.

"Not to embarrass you two, but Jazz, you're still holding Blaster." The two 'bots looked at each other blankly, and smiled back at Sapphire. Jazz immediately dropped Blaster and rushed up to Optimus, though he was not his intended target.

"Well li'l lady, it just so happens that I am programmed to _always_ embarrass Blaster in front of a pretty gal like yourself." Jazz grinned and extended a hand of his own for Sapphire. She laughed and accepted Jazz's offer. She stepped into Optimus' hand, and plopped herself down, making herself comfortable. Blaster, seeing Jazz charm Sapphire, decided to intervene.

"Hey, Jazz ol' buddy of mine, why don't ya give the lady a chance to talk instead of grabbin' and walkin' off with her!" Blaster snapped back at Jazz. With Sapphire still in Jazz's hand, Blaster extended his hand for Sapphire with a large grin on his face. Sapphire just shook her head and said, "No matter where I go, boys will be boys I suppose…" With that, Sapphire floated up out of Jazz's hand and carefully made her way back to Optimus Prime; his hand was covering his optics in disappointment. The other Autobots except for Prowl were laughing their heads off at the love-struck duo. Jazz and Blaster, slumped over in their failed efforts in "befriending" Sapphire.

"As I was saying, what can I do for ya'll?" Sapphire said while floating up to Optimus Prime.

"I'm afraid all that you can do to is help us try to find a hiding spot for our friend Skyfire." Optimus sorrowfully stated as he motioned his hand over to the gigantic white and red jet that was half buried in the ground. Sapphire whistled and pulled her glasses down in pure amazement.

"Now _that's_ a big boy ya got there, but no worries, I can easily return your oversized jet friend here back to your base."

"Come again? What do ya mean _"return"_ our friend by?" Ironhide challenged in his gruff voice.

"What I mean, is that I can teleport your friend here back to your base only if you tell me the whereabouts of your base. Unless, that is, _if_ you want to wait for your guys to come by later and pick him up."

Hound approached Optimus and cautiously whispered, "Do you think that we can trust her?"

"I believe that we can." Optimus reassured a worried Hound. "Sapphire?"

"Yes sir?" Sapphire immediately perked up and became face-to-face with Optimus.

"You have my permission to transport Skyfire back to our base, only on one condition: You must take someone along with you, and bring them back to me."

"Optimus do you—" Prowl interjected. It was apparent that the second-in-command did not share the same high hopes for Sapphire as Optimus.

"Prowl, what choice do we have? The faster Skyfire can be repaired, the faster we will have access to his transportation when we need to leave, or call for reinforcements." Optimus crushed Prowl's opposition with his reasoning. Prowl thought about his logic for a while. Sapphire decided that enough time was already being wasted.

"Prowl, if you don't mind you can accompany me so that you can see for yourself that your friend Skyfire is in more than capable hands." Sapphire suggested to the wary Prowl.

"What?! That's no fair! Why, Jazz and I made her laugh first, why does Prowl get to go with her?!" Enraged, Blaster yelled towards Optimus. Sapphire bursted out laughing while Prowl, awkwardly shifted back in Blaster's sudden outburst.

"Sorry Blaster, but this isn't a party bus. Anyways, don't you have to go and help your friends bust some trouble making Decepticons?" Sapphire teased.

"She has a point Blaster." Jazz grinned at Sapphire and then back at Blaster, who folded his arms in defeat. Blaster mumbled something to Jazz who also began to laugh.

"It's settled then, let me get your friend outta here for ya. Optimus, do you have the coordinates?"

"Yes I do, here you go." Optimus pulled up a hidden compartment in his arm and a hologram of the West Coast appeared. A bright red dot appeared on the map and the hologram started to zoom in onto the flashing light. Sapphire studied the numbers of the latitude and longitude when the projector stopped zooming in.

"Okay, now that I have a course plotted, it's time to get this show on the road. Prowl, board Skyfire now please." Sapphire eagerly stated. Prowl gave Optimus a "Do I really have to go" look; Optimus just glared back at the reluctant Prowl, who sighed and did as he was told. While Prowl grudgingly obeyed Sapphire's request under Optimus Prime's silent orders, Sapphire informed the other Autobots to step back a few paces. A bit confused as why they needed to, the Autobots went along with Sapphire's request.

Sapphire then turned back towards the grounded Skyfire, shut her eyes, and raised her sprawled out hands. A faded bluish white glow emanated from her hands; the light then enveloped Skyfire's hull until it too, shone in the bizarre radiance. For a second time, the Autobots were in shock when Skyfire was gently lifted up and out of the ground. Sapphire opened her eyes that now poured out a vivid sky blue light. Slowly rising up off the ground, she shot over to Skyfire and called out to a terrified Prowl to open up a hatch.

Prowl shakily yanked on the cracked side hatch, peering outside the hovering craft down to his fellow comrades. Jazz waved timidly up to the horrified second-in-command who clung onto the half intact door as Sapphire blissfully floated in. While passing Prowl, she glanced back at him. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost. In an effort to calm Prowl, Sapphire barely touched his left arm.

"Prowl, relax. Nothin' is gonna happen to you. Just sit back and enjoy the ride." Sapphire then tilted her head up and softly said, "Same goes for you Skyfire." Prowl's blue optics met Sapphire's radiant blue eyes for a second time. Sapphire only saw fear, while Prowl, saw reassurance in hers. Prowl nodded and took off back to Skyfire's control panels. Sapphire chuckled at the hasty actions now taken by the tense second-in-command.

Sapphire gazed down at the congregation of Autobots below and shouted, "Don't worry about us, we'll be fine! You guys go on ahead! I'll take Prowl back to ya'll when Optimus activates his homing beacon, which I'm assume he has!" None of the miniature Autobots moved a gear, so to speak. Sapphire, annoyed by their lifeless actions barked out at them, again. "HEY! Did you guys fall asleep or somethin'?! Get a move on already before the trail turns cold!" None of the Autobots required a third verbal command. All of them transformed and took off towards New York City.

"SAPPHIRE!" Prowl screamed. "LOOK OUT!" While Sapphire was occupied in focusing her thoughts for teleportation, an immense figure blinked up behind her. Sapphire turned and found out that Skywarp, the only known Transformer who possessed the ability to teleport, had both of his laser cannons attached to his black and purple arms, targeted her chest. Sapphire knew there was only one way out of this sudden situation, but she did not care if Skyfire or Prowl; who was now drawing his rifle out, were prepared. Just as Skywarp fired, a bright flash of light blinded him momentarily. When his sight finally returned, a wave of furry came over him. In front of him was just the shadow of New York City and in the background, the sunrise making its final hurrah.

* * *

"Prowl? Are you alright" Prowl's optics flickered to life after hearing the soothing voice.

"Huh…? W-What happened…?" Prowl spoke in an almost inaudible tone as he was rebooting from an unexpected teleportation.

"He he… um, you can blame that one on me. I teleported to your base without warning you first Prowl. You were flung out of Skyfire, and you landed pretty hard on the ground. Sorry for knocking you and Skyfire out cold…" Sapphire was kneeling beside Prowl's helmet. Her right hand grazed his right cheek. "For a second there, I thought that I gave you a "spark attack" when that jet guy popped up behind me."

"Almost. I just do not appreciate a human, almost being killed by a Decepticon. This war is between the Autobots and Decepticons; no one else." Prowl flatly stated as he struggled to pull himself off the ground.

"You're welcome Prowl, and apology accepted." Sapphire warmly told Prowl. He reciprocated a tight smile, but it quickly vanished when he started to absorb his surroundings. Skyfire's bulky jet form was comfortably snug in some over-sized pine trees that were to the right of the Ark. Prowl frowned at the pitiful sight and opened up a comlink to Ratchet.

"_Ratchet? This is Prowl, what's your status?"_

"_Ratchet here, what's the situation?"_

"_Skyfire is heavily damaged, and is in need of immediate medical attention. I, along with another individual, have accompanied him, and he's outside of the Ark now."_

"_So that's what that crashing noise was…" _Ratchet thought out loud to himself._ "Wait, back up, who else is with you?"_

"_A human named Sapphire. Don't worry she's friendly."_ A prolonged silence was Ratchet's response.

"_Ratchet? Are you still with me?"_

"_Are you positive that is her name?"_

"_Affirmative. Why? Is there a problem with—huh?"_ Prowl attention was distracted when the numerous sounds of snapping tree limbs. When he turned to see that Skyfire was again lifted up into the air, his jaw fell.

"Hey Prowl, where do ya want him at? He's pretty heavy, so could ya tell me quick?" Sapphire shouted underneath Skyfire's bulky mass. She was carrying him into the air! Prowl could not believe his optics the first time Sapphire lifted Skyfire telepathically, but now, Sapphire was carrying him with her brute strength. Prowl had to shake his head in order to snap out of his trance.

"Put Skyfire on that landing platform that's being extended." Prowl pointed to an extending platform. Sapphire acknowledged, and set a course to the platform that was on top of the Ark; a giant spaceship that was half visible because the front end of the dark yellow craft was smashed into the face of a very large volcano.

Prowl's distraction dealt Ratchet enough time to bail on his and Prowl's comlink conversation. Prowl realized this and frowned—again. _"Ratchet knows who this Sapphire person is, but he never mentioned if she was __good__ or __evil__."_ As Prowl pondered on the severity of this predicament, his audios were stabbed by a loud shriek of not fear—but joy.

* * *

"R-Ratchet? Is that really you?" Sapphire attempted to control the excitement in her voice.

"Sapphire…? Is—"That was enough proof for Sapphire; this white, medical robot knew her name.

She gently placed the now rebooting Skyfire on the platform underneath her, and flung herself onto Ratchet's neck, and hugged him. Ratchet managed to catch himself from being toppled over, and did his best to hug Sapphire—without crushing her.

"I thought that—well after… Damn, how the _slag_ did you manage to escape without being blown to shreds? I thought that I had lost you during that escape…" If Ratchet possessed the ability to produce tears, he would have bawled his optics out of his head right then and there. Sapphire placed a finger on Ratchet's lips.

"All in due time I'll tell ya, but now you have more important things to turn your attention to—like fixing up your friend here." She pulled back from his embrace and turned towards Skyfire's busted alternative mode.

"Your right. Sapphire, can you help me with—"

"Sorry Ratchet, but I gotta rendezvous with Optimus Prime and the others. I'll catch up with you later!" Sapphire sped off back to Prowl's location, waving back to Ratchet, and wearing the largest smile on her face—ever. Ratchet, dumbstruck about seeing one of his closest friends for the first time since his _"Dark Times"_ as Ratchet called it, he could not process anything to say, so he just settled at waving back with a smile equally as large as Sapphire's.

A moan from Skyfire snapped Ratchet out of his wandering conscious, and back into reality. He had a patient now, and that was the end of that. Ratchet began repairs on the oversized jetliner without any hesitation. Meanwhile, Sapphire flew through the air back to a paranoid Prowl. He wanted an answer as to why Sapphire extruded the audio splitting screech.

"Prowl, let's go. Optimus has activated his homing beacon." Sapphire began before Prowl could release his attack.

"Very well, let's roll out." Prowl spoke in a steady, but frustrated voice.

"Whatever you do, don't pass out again. Keep your cool and hold on tight." Sapphire landed on Prowl's right shoulder, only this time Sapphire stood up straight and placed her right hand on the side of Prowl's helmet. A bright flash of blue light signaled their departure to the front lines of the battlefield between the Autobots and Decepticons.


	4. Chapter 4: Hatred's Wrath

Chapter 3

Hatred's Wrath

New York City: The Big Apple, as most people on Earth call it. Only on this early Sunday morning—the Big Apple, more specifically, Time Square was the battlefield between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Laser fire pierced through the myriad amounts of nearby skyscrapers and brick buildings, and leaving them in shambles. The battle cries of Megatron's forces drowned out the mortifying screams of New York's civilian population scrambling for safety.

"Out of all the places Megatron decides to attack, why New York?!" Mirage frustratingly shouted to himself. Mirage was ducking in cover in an alley behind a McDonald's restaurant.

"Stop complaining, and start shooting Mirage!" Hound shouted over from his hideout: a bulky mass of a roof from a skyscraper that was blown off, and now sat in the middle of Seventh Avenue. Hound squeezed off a few more rounds at Soundwave while he dashed for cover where Mirage was stationed.

"Come on Mirage! Get a move on it! You're the only one of us who can sneak behind their lines! Prime gave you the thumbs up via comlink, but you didn't answer!" Hound shouted at a reluctant Mirage.

"Fine, I'll go, but you _owe_ me a few drinks after we're through here Hound…" Mirage grumbled at Hound.

"That's the spirit Mirage!" Hound jokingly stated as he patted Mirage on the back. Hound tipped off Mirage and ran back to his demolished steel barrier.

"Prime!" Jazz called behind another piece of scrap metal that fell off from a nearby skyscraper and landed in the street known as Broadway. "Did you activate your homing beacon already? We're getting out afts handed to us out here!" Optimus Prime was 10 yards away from Jazz taking cover in a newly formed trench in the asphalt road.

"Yes Jazz I have, but I don't know why—Oooft!" Prime was cut off when Prowl popped up out of nowhere above him, and Prowl fell right on top of Optimus, and with a loud "CLANG!" Prowl and Optimus were both face first in the war torn street.

"Well, that's one way to make an entrance, Prowl." Jazz laughed at the sight of his fellow second-in-command's awkward situation. Prime groaned and pushed Prowl off of his back to stand up.

"You okay Prowl?" Optimus asked with concern, extending a hand out to help him up. Prowl pushed himself off the ground and glanced at Optimus with a look that Optimus knew all too well. _"Hmm…she was that bad?"_ Optimus thought to himself.

"Yeah, I'm alright. What's the situation Prime?" Prowl didn't skip a beat, Optimus laughed. Prowl being the serious tactician: put his duties first before his injuries. Prowl wanted progress to occur, instead of the current stalemate of laser fire bombarding both Decepticon and Autobot lines.

"As you can see Prowl, neither Autobot nor Decepticon forces have penetrated each other's defenses."

"Where's Mirage?" Prowl quickly asked as he took cover with Optimus in the crevice and fired a few rounds of acid pellets from his white rifle.

"He's already making his way behind the Decepticon lines Prowl!" Hound staggered to say as he ran up to Prime and Prowl's position.

"Good, Jazz! You and Hound attack the Decepticon's right flank; Ironhide, do the same! Everyone else, hit 'em with everything we've got down the middle!"

"WAIT!" A voice called from behind Prowl. All of the Autobots broke off their attack and ran for cover. They all glanced behind their backs to find Sapphire racing up to them. "Tell everyone to fall back." Sapphire said to Prowl in a serious, monotone voice.

"What?" Prowl confusingly asked. "What are you—"

"Do it now, for your own safety. I'll take care of these goons. I've scouted up ahead. Two miles north there are 3 smaller robots, one in the form of a panther accompanying a much larger grey robot with some sort of black cannon mounted on his right arm." Sapphire informed the Autobots.

"That's definitely Megatron." Hound bitterly said to Optimus.

"But Sapphire, are you sure—" Blaster started to explain to Sapphire.

"I'll be fine, use the alleys for cover, and stay light on your feet. These guys are just a diversion. Go and stop the real threat! Now go!" Sapphire shouted at the Autobots. With laser fire raining down on the mechs, they retreated and silently dispersed throughout the labyrinth of New York's back streets.

When Sapphire was convinced that the Autobots were safely out of range, that's when she turned to her "abilities" for help. Sapphire leapt up into the air and remained suspended at least a few stories above the ground. The Decepticons infuriated that the Autobot forces were no longer in sight, unanimously decided to release their rage on the lone human target levitating above the former Autobot lines.

Soundwave, a significantly sized blueberry colored mech, with a faceplate that shadows Optimus Prime's, and a piercing red blocky visor, fired three heat seeking missiles out of the Gatling gun shaped rocket launcher mounted on his right shoulder. A trail of smoke followed in their wake. As the missiles, along with countless laser fire scorching through the air, attracted towards Sapphire. She slowly closed her eyes as if accepting her impending doom. Just as Sapphire seemed that death was upon her, a massive explosion enveloped her being. The blackened smoke did not dissipate until an unearthly gust of wind came from the center of the smoke.

Mirage, the only Autobot who was not informed in the "change of plans" was in utter shock, believing that he just witness the cruel but selfless execution of a young organic female in order to benefit the Autobot cause. To his dismay, when the smoke quickly vanished, a cloudy blue, translucent sphere encased Sapphire. The move "protect" stopped the Decepticon's assault dead in its tracks. Astonished in this human's abilities, all of the Decepticons who were present, later to be identified as Starscream, Skywarp, Soundwave, and Thundercracker ceased fire.

Sapphire seized her brief opportunity of nothingness, and turned the tides in the firefight. Sapphire's hands rose and pointed towards the red-and-white jet, and a psychedelic, swirling rainbow colored beam of intensified energy shot out of her raised palms with incredible speed. As the beam of highly concentrated energy struck Starscream's chest, he was catapulted into the Times Square Tower that was covered with digital screens, filled with various advertisements for McDonald's, and the like. The billboards shattered into millions of pieces as Starscream's clunky, metal body flew into, and lodged itself halfway through the building.

Mirage—still invisible, in an instant decided that the time had come for him to vacate the premises before the next Decepticon flying over head that barely misses decapitating him, gets a second chance. Mirage was reluctant to move as the ever increasing violent battle crept closer and closer to him. _"Just my luck, a female superhuman on a killing spree. Great…just when I just starting to like her…"_ Mirage thought to himself. Mirage tread quietly into a nearby alley what HE thought was a safe distance to view the battle and not become deactivated in the process of this onslaught.

Skywarp clenched his fists tighter than ever now. The first time this "Sapphire" person, as Prowl screamed hours earlier, evaded his grasp, he received a chewing out he'll never forget from Megatron. "_Frag! What else does this creepy organic got up her sleeve?!_" Skywarp mentally shouted. Skywarp's thick headed tactics usually worked so this was a pristine opportunity to use his powers to avenge his fallen soldier, even if he really didn't appreciate Starscream that much in the first place.

Skywarp teleported just a couple of feet away from Sapphire's backside, but instead of revenge for Starscream, Skywarp settled to blast this pathetic human for escaping his grasp the first time. Even Sapphire's teleportation abilities surpassed those of his own! This alone pissed Skywarp all to hell. Skywarp's full attention was fixed upon his "new target." He was determined to finish what he had started, and show this organic who _was_ the boss. Skywarp took aim and fired his arm mounted laser cannons, shooting out a dazzling display of darkened lavender purple streaks of photon energy. This time at the very last second to spare, a reflective solid blue surface materialized to stop the barrage of laser fire. Sapphire did not bother to turn and face her opponent. Explosions from the laser beams impacting the surface, instantly started to crack the blue wall of light. "Hah! This is too easy!" Skywarp boasted out loud with a very large smirk on his face.

Sapphire realizing her defenses were being penetrated, rigidly swung around and attacked. In a swift fluent motion, Sapphire swiped her hand across her body and barely glazed the back of the weakening reflecting surface. The "reflect" move shattered; sending a shockwave of energy rippling through the air. Skywarp could not react in time. The wave of energy slammed into his chest, where the golden canopy and nose of a purple and black fighter jet, crumpled inward like a piece of crushed tin foil. The immense force of the impact barely left Skywarp in one piece. Skywarp's vocal processor, (along with many other internal systems) was ripped out of place in his metallic body frame, preventing the screams of agony to come forth from his contorted facial expression. Skywarp's twisted and mangled frame was launched halfway across New York City until he finally came to a standstill—in the eastern face of the Empire State Building.

"Oops…" Sapphire muttered to herself as she squinted to see the smoke and debris aimlessly floating in the air space surrounding the Empire State Building. Sapphire would have to deal with that issue later. "I guess I have no choice but to end this quickly…" She told herself in a displeasing matter. Sapphire casually twisted her body in a 180 to face her two remaining enemies, Soundwave and Thundercracker. She sized up the two 'cons in order to take advantage of the "weakest link." But in an alley that was partially covered by a semi-collapsed brick building, something moved. The only the problem was that nothing visible was present. "Cloaking abilities?" She thought to herself. Sapphire grabbed the end of her black glasses frame with yellow streaks and lifted them up further on the bridge of her nose. "Backup…" Sapphire concluded as she gritted her teeth and rose up another story in the air. The explosion from earlier clogged the city air with a haze of burning particles. The pungent smell burned her throat. Sapphire did not allow this minor inconvenience slow her attack.

"You two! Who else is here? Do _not_ lie to me, or you **will** pay with your lives!" Sapphire angrily shouted down at the two mortified Decepticon warriors who just witnessed two of their comrades thrown like rag dolls by this human girl in less than two Earth minutes.

"There's only four of us here now! I swear it! Thundercracker, the bright blue painted jet-like Transformer pleaded. "I-It's probably that blue-and-white Autobot that can become invisible!"

"Mirage…" Sapphire spoke in a hushed voice. "_Aww, hell, how long has he been here?!_" Sapphire mentally scolded herself. "No matter! I hope that this serves as an example to you and to your leader, to never attack a populated area ever again!" Sapphire boldly stated. "Now tell me, where is your leader!"

"Megatron leader of the mighty Decepticons: superior. Minuscule human: inferior!" Soundwave warbled. Soundwave's face was oddly similar to the purple insignia stationed upon his yellow trimmed cassette docking bay. Soundwave's blood red visor, showed no sign of regrets for the words he just spoken. Sapphire was impressed by the Decepticon's bold statement, but ooh, was she pissed. Sapphire's brow furrowed and her gleaming eyes transformed into scarlet red eyes with pitch black pupil slits. Those "demon eyes" narrowed into icy blood dripping daggers behind her half-framed glasses. Her Anger built up inside of her and she unleashed her furry upon Soundwave in the form of a black, shadowy blob of matter compressed into a sphere. The shadow ball charged up to full power in her right palm. As she stiffly raised said palm, the shadow ball rocketed out towards her prey—Soundwave.

"A very unwise decision, robot." Sapphire menacingly told Soundwave. Her voice dropped into a deep, beast like sound. Soundwave tried to dodge the barrage of blurred blackened blobs. Soundwave evaded the first shadow ball—barely. The first blob exploded in a furry of electric blue lightning and contorted pitch black smears of energy radiating from the epicenter of the impact a few inches in front of Soundwave. He was not so lucky in escaping the next four energy spheres from hell. Soundwave sidestepped to the left attempting to dodge the second and third blobs, but Sapphire mastered a deadly technique—the creation of homing shadow balls.

Soundwave was struck, dead on in the upper part of his left shoulder, shredding his outer armor and disintegrating the intricate wiring buried beneath the armor. Soundwave stumbled back towards his left and then was immediately blasted in his face plate. His faceplate was dismembered into thousands of needle-like shrapnel. His visor shattered, and every scorched fragment, sparkled in the sunlight like thousands of rubies scattered in the sunlight. Soundwave was flipped backwards by the force of the shadow ball, and skidded to a stop on his back among the pavement, creating an ear-splitting screeching noise.

Sapphire didn't hesitate to stop her full throttle assault on Soundwave. She charged up one final shadow ball. "_This will end it._" Sapphire mentally beamed to Soundwave. The energized orb launched. Soundwave made one final desperate move to slow his attacker. Being blinded by the last shadow ball, Soundwave drew his weapon and blindly fired into the sky, hoping that at least one of his blasts destroyed the final orb of blackness zooming in onto his position. As the shadow ball neared its target, one laser beam struck the center of the ball. The purple beam of light was sucked into the incoming shadow ball like a black hole. The ball of dark energy expanded to double its original diameter. The blast failed to slow the ball down, in fact, the shadow ball increased in speed. The ball of black matter exploded on impact with a similar display of fireworks on the Fourth of July night sky. The explosion drove Soundwave three feet deeper into the asphalt road, and totally destroyed the cassette docking bay on his chestplate. His hidden spark chamber was now visible and it too, was scorched a tiny bit from Sapphire's cold-blooded attack.

Soundwave lost grip of his rifle when the final shadow ball impacted his chest, and it flew out of his hands and landed a few yards away from Soundwave's limp body. He remained motionless; smoke pouring out from his exposed chest where the cassette bay once sat. Thundercracker stumbled backwards and tripped over pieces of broken chunks of pavement and crumbled building walls that lay in Seventh Avenue.

"What are you!?" Thundercracker screamed, still trying to scurry away from Soundwave's indistinguishable body frame. Thundercracker struggled to stay on his feet as he clumsily stumbled on the demolished road, trying to space himself from this _monster_. Sapphire allowed a demonic grin flash upon her face. Sapphire clutched her left hand into a fist. A faded, bluish aura veiled Thundercracker's body and was violently lifted up into the air up to Sapphire's stationary form. Thundercracker flailed about in vain to escape his doom.

Thundercracker's thrashing body was lifted up, until his petrified red optics met with Sapphire's malevolent serpentine eyes. Sapphire clutched Thundercracker's chin in her right hand and slightly tilted his head up towards hers.

"I'm your worst nightmare fiend. Now you only have one chance to save your hide, boy. See your friends down there? You will join the fate as your comrades below if you do not tell me why you came here. What are you _planning?_" Sapphire impishly said in an icy voice into Thundercracker's audio receptors. "Now _talk_ unless you would prefer to die with your friends down there!" Sapphire jerked his head down to where Starscream and Soundwave lay; then she directed his attention to the horizon where the haze of smoke still lingered in the vicinity of the Empire State Building. "This is your final warning, boy, what are you planning!" Sapphire coldheartedly said as she brought Thundercracker's attention to her eyes that now shone in a bright bluish light

"Okay, okay! I'll talk! J-Just don't hurt me!" Thundercracker stuttered. "All I know is that Megatron just wanted to draw Optimus Prime out in the open!"

"In the middle of a heavily populated city? Why?" Sapphire questioned with severity in her voice.

"I-I—" Thundercracker paused, drawing a complete blank out of pure fear. Fear that he has never encountered before in his eternal life.

"TALK! You are hiding information from me!" Sapphire channeled high voltage thunderbolt attacks from her hand that still clutched Thundercracker's head. His expression at once turned from pure fear to anguish as electricity pulsated throughout his body frame. Thundercracker could not contain the earsplitting screams hidden behind his mouth.

"I grow tired of asking, you pathetic piece of scrap this question, what is your leader, Megatron, planning!" Sapphire amped up the intensity of the thunderbolts' coursing through Thundercracker's twisting body. His screams grew louder and higher in pitch.

"I-I…don't…aghh! KNOW!!" Thundercracker screamed with all his might. He grabbed Sapphire's arms with both of his hands. Then, Thundercracker's twisted facial expression disappeared. His optics, overly charged with electricity, flickered violently, then short circuited. His scarlet red optics sparked white-hot, and a curtain of blackness immediately covered his once red optical sensors. Sapphire studied his black eyes with such intensity that it seemed that Sapphire had fallen into some sort of deep trance.

"You are telling the truth jet boy…" Sapphire slowly spoke in a calm voice. Sapphire blinked and her deathly eyes were back to normal. "Then tell me, where is he now?"

"He's uhh…probably by the big construction lot over in the eastern part of the city." Thundercracker nervously responded in hopes to never experience Sapphire's electric personality _ever_ again.

"Let this experience be a final warning to you and your allies; next time we meet, you can count on that I will NOT be so benevolent next time." Sapphire hissed. The faded glow surrounding Thundercracker ceased to exist. Her psychic hold upon Thundercracker dropped. His hands slipped off of Sapphire's arms, and fell three stories; too weak to transform or try to brace for impact. A brief but thundering cracking noise reverberated from Thundercracker's sky blue, metallic body frame slamming on the black pavement of Seventh Avenue below. Asphalt crumbled into a circle from the shockwave and surrounded him. Thundercracker went into stasis lock upon impact.

Sapphire just stared aimlessly at Thundercracker's motionless body, and then she diverted her weary gaze to Soundwave's battered and mutilated body frame. "I wonder if I really killed that one…" Sapphire quietly told herself. She slowly looked to the east of Soundwave to study the left leg of the red-and-white Transformer named Starscream. Every now and again sparks would fly from the destroyed monitors and from Starscream's leg. Finally her weary ocean blue eyes fell upon the now visible hole in the Empire State Building, three miles away.

Sapphire's body gradually floated downward to the road beneath her. She daintily tiptoed on the severely damaged intersection. Sapphire let out a heavy sigh that she was carrying throughout the duration of her confrontation with the Decepticon forces. Again, she proceeded to assess the damage she mainly caused and the Transformers had created. Before Sapphire could catch herself, she fell into a trance-like state. Her eyes lids half closed and her head hung down to her feet. Almost as if weights seemed to detach from her soul, Sapphire loosened up her shoulders and allowed her upper body to slump over a few inches. Sapphire's lack of sleep finally caught up to her.

Mirage stood behind Sapphire. He decided this would be a convenient moment in time to reveal himself to Sapphire. Mirage was still cloaked by his invisibility shield and began to cautiously walk towards Sapphire's exhausted body. Mirage stopped a few feet behind Sapphire and deactivated his cloaking device. He attempted to speak, but all words were lost to him.

"I thought you were smart enough to leave and re-group with your friends, and yet—you remain here, with me…" Sapphire spoke in a hushed voice, without moving from her stance.

"I uhh, did—at first anyways. I thought that you might've needed some backup… I guessed wrong." Mirage was caught off guard by Sapphire's speediness of detecting his presence. Sapphire was not only a ruthless and skilled warrior as Mirage just witnessed, but an exceptional tracker as well. _"Incredible, her skills are unlike anything I've ever encountered before. Sapphire in her past must have had espionage training. Primus—she's excelled at whatever she _is_ or does. She has to be if she's able to pinpoint my location without even scanning her surroundings!" _Mirage's curiosity overwhelmed his processer and just needed his questions answered that were bubbling up within him.

"How—" Mirage was not able to burst out with two words before Sapphire began to explain her "talents" to Mirage.

"Let's just say when you've been on your own in the wilderness for as long as I have, you pick up a 'certain' skill or two. And yes, my senses are that finely attuned to my surroundings—far beyond any human or _anything_."

"And how are you—"

"Finishing up your thoughts before you ask? Telepathy. I have the ability to read minds. Yes I have had some espionage, sabotage training, along with many other different types of training. That's how I knew that blue, jet dude was telling the truth when he finally answered my questions."

"Thundercracker?"

"Yeah, sure, let's go with that. Speaking of names, who is the purple jet who can teleport?" Sapphire turned her head towards Mirage, and slightly straightened up her back.

"That would be Skywarp. Not the brightest crayon in the box, as you humans say, but he's one of the most unpredictable Decepticon in the Seeker Trio."

"And the red-and-white one?"

"That's Starscream. He wants to become the new Decepticon leader. He's very reckless and that's what makes him dangerous."

"Well, he's gonna have to stand up to more punishment than that weak psybeam attack I flicked at him…" Mirage's jaw dropped. _"Weak? That was weak?!"_ He exaggerated in his thoughts. Sapphire smiled a bit as she clearly heard his unspoken words as if he screamed them to the entire world.

"Yeah, that _was_ a weak blast." Sapphire's grin widened even more in Mirage's further disbelief in her abilities.

"Wow… Just remind me to NEVER get on your bad side, EVER." Mirage flatly said in his deep voice. Sapphire chuckled at his dry humor.

"Okay, then who's the one with the freaky voice? Even though he's the enemy, I really love his voice. It's almost like a clashing chord of sound. Very cool…" Sapphire trailed off into thought about Soundwave's "unique" voice.

"That would be Soundwave. He's the most versatile out of all the Decepticons stationed here on Earth. Soundwave also has five cassetticons in his disposal. Two mini robots named Rumble and Frenzy. Ravage the one in the form of a black panther, and finally two that can fly are named Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw. Soundwave's little army has caused more than enough problems for us in the past." Mirage admitted. "Soundwave also has many other abilities such as producing powerful waves of sound, hence, yielding Soundwave his name."

"His name I guess suits him fairly well, but I don't want to be around him when he decides to use those 'sound waves' against me or you guys." Mirage just smiled, and Sapphire reciprocated the gesture. A drawn-out pause fell between Sapphire and Mirage. Both were lost in their thoughts. Sapphire began to wander around the battle zone and finally came clean with her actions earlier in the battle.

"Yeah, I guess I got a little too carried away…" Sapphire slowly spoke. She did not want to admit that her techniques were a bit vicious at times. Sapphire allowed her gaze to meet Soundwave's smoldering heap of scrap metal she had so graciously created.

"A 'little' seems to be an understatement Sapphire." Mirage bluntly stated. Sapphire shot him a look filled with cold-heartedness, and Mirage instantly apologized for his lack of respect. "I'm sorry Sapphire. I didn't mean to upset you." Mirage felt guilty for his uncontrolled outburst.

"It's alright Mirage, I understand. It's just that, well—I could have killed you today. If Thundercracker didn't speak up when he did, I don't know what would have happened to you. Soundwave's insult distracted me from your presence—a lot. I saw something invisible in an alley and I figured that those goons had some secret backup hiding in the shadows, waiting for the best opportunity to strike." Either the fact that Mirage realized that he could have been Sapphire's fifth victim of the day, or the brutal truth that Sapphire is more than capable of severely damaging or _killing_ Mirage without so much of an effort. Sapphire's ominous but hidden intimidation was enough to silence Mirage's questions.

"I'm sorry Mirage, I didn't mean for it to come out like that." Sapphire solemnly said as she turned towards Mirage. "Please forgive my insolence Mirage…"

"It's okay, I just—" Mirage could not find the words to express his fear.

"I understand." Sapphire finished for Mirage. Another wave of silence fell between the two. In their extended silence, both Mirage and Sapphire started to realize the true extent of the damage in the famous Time Square. Now it looked like a scrap yard. Buildings were half-intact, and the road looked like someone came by with a couple hundred sticks of dynamite. Time Square looked nothing like Sapphire has seen on television or in real life when in its full glory. Now the famous plot of land shadowed that of the nine/eleven tragedies when the twin towers, gleaming in the sunlight on that fateful morning, tumbled down into mounds of smoldering steel frames, and rank of the compressed and burnt bodies of the innocent businessmen and firemen.

Sapphire wandered around the block for a few minutes observing the damage to the surrounding area. She then stopped in her tracks and fell to her knees on a craggy sidewalk. Her mind could not sustain anymore of the vivid images of the towers crumbling down anymore. All of the lives she could have saved. Sapphire placed both of her arms on her thighs and her head hung between both of her forearms. Her dark brown curly hair draped around her face and neck.

Painful memories of the civilians she desperately tried to save from their impending doom when the towers were struck by the two Boeing 737's. The horrific images of those people being burnt alive, pleading for help still haunted her memories. When those towers collapsed upon the of 2,750 New York citizens, and herself, all Sapphire could remember was the crunching and popping coming from the people being crushed beneath the steel beams and debris of the Trade Center. Sapphire was inside the South Tower when it succumbed to the powerful infernos brewing inside of the building.

Sapphire was in the form of a Rayquaza, a vivid green, serpentine dragon with a head that has four rectangular horns jutting out from the sides of its head. Two just behind its eye guard, and two positioned below the point where the head of this beast met its thick, muscular body. A red double-helix-like pattern flowed across the entire spine of the creature until it meet its green fan like tail. Sections of the flexible dragon body had cylindrical armor plating encase its body. The armor was also the same green coloration as the rest of its body. Four equally spaced, green rectangular blades on the armor sections were the dragon's secret to its incredible maneuverability and dexterity in flight.

Sapphire in her Rayquaza form, was one of the only beings found alive in the rubble of either tower.

The trauma from that day gripped her conscious, not allowing Sapphire to notice that Mirage had already scooped up her tense body in his massive blue hands. Mirage lifted Sapphire's chin with his oversized index finger. Sapphire's dulled eyes were imbued with great sadness and fear, and met Mirage's bright, light blue optics

"Are you going to be alright?" Mirage asked in his deep pitched voice. Even though Sapphire had just met Mirage hours ago, she already developed a sense of trust for Mirage and the rest of his Autobot comrades. Sapphire knew that deep within her soul that she could trust Mirage with her life.

"Yeah, just some memories from a few years ago reminded me of the destruction here in Time Square." Sapphire looked away from Mirage's caring blue optics. Her chin left Mirage's finger. "I just need a moment…" Sapphire refused to show any more emotion than what she was showing already. Misty-eyed and barely able to hold back the waterfall of tears inside of her, Mirage nodded in agreement and patiently waited for Sapphire to regain her composure. Sapphire sat vey still for a while trying to control the black thoughts and memories inside her head.

Minutes passed until Sapphire was confident that she regained her serenity. "Okay…" Sapphire sighed. "Let's go find your friends, but before we join the others, may I ask you something Mirage?" Sapphire spoke in a somber, almost pleading tone of voice.

"Yes. What is it?" Mirage gently responded.

"Don't mention this 'episode' I just had to anyone else alright? _Especially _to Ratchet. Do I have your word Mirage?" Mirage was perplexed at the purpose to Sapphire's question, but did not doubt her intentions.

"You have my word Sapphire." Mirage warmly smiled as he spoke. Sapphire's tension seemed to melt away as Mirage spoke.

"Thank you." Sapphire forced out a tiny smile of her own. "Alright _now_ let's go and find your friends. Thundercracker spoke of a construction lot in the east. If he is correct, Optimus should be there with Megatron. The only problem is that New York is **filled** with construction lots. Question is, which one is it?" Sapphire turned back into the serious soldier she was shaped to become. Her eyes possessed a newfound confidence and determination to find Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots.

"Don't worry about that, I have a lock on Optimus' energy signature, so tracking him and the others should take no time at all." Mirage reassured Sapphire.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go" Sapphire's spunkiness returned and she sprung out of Mirage's hand over his head. "Lead the way, and I'll follow."

"Alright, but just try to keep up!" Mirage shouted as he ran to a full sprint. He leapt forward and transformed midair into a blue and white race car with the number "26" and "elf" bolded black on his white front end. He burned rubber when his tires greeted the pavement, and sped off into the distance with Sapphire following close behind Mirage's vehicle mode.

* * *

"Optimus Prime! Prepare to meet your doom!" Megatron, the tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, screamed in his scratchy, deep voice. A shiny, flat-topped, grey helmet formed around Megatron's head, and topped off his multi-shaded, grey body frame. His jet black arm-mounted cannon aimed at Optimus Prime.

"Give it up Megatron! We have you surrounded!" Optimus Prime, the humble Autobot leader heroically answered. Optimus had a dark blue helmet with two spikes protruding from where his audios or his "ears" were. His cracked faceplate covered up a majority of his face and moved up and down as he spoke. Prime's vibrant red chest was in the shape of a flat front semi truck cab, and attached to the bottom his chest were his navy blue-and-white legs. Optimus had his coal black laser rifle pointed at Megatron's body.

Standing diligently with their leader, Ironhide, Hound, Wheeljack and Prowl all had their weapons drawn and targeted Megatron. Jazz and Blaster were busy "distracting" Frenzy, Ravage, and Rumble—Soundwave's cassetticons. The Autobots that accompanied Optimus were waiting for any sudden movement from Megatron so that, as Ironhide would say, "Blast that sorry Decept'con to hell!" The Autobots pursued Megatron and his smaller-than-usual Decepticon warriors through Central Park, and now cornered the defiant Decepticon leader in an empty construction lot with no way to escape.

"On the contrary Optimus Prime, it is **you** that should surrender! Now Behold!" Megaton boastfully announced as his cannon began to emit a strange peachy color. "With this supercharged energon cube that I have inserted into my cannon, you and your pathetic Autobot warriors shall fall before me!!" Megatron laughed manically as his fusion cannon charged up as an aquamarine color instead of violet. Ironhide was the closest to Optimus Prime, as he always is; so he reacted first. Ironhide knew that he could not stop Megatron from firing, but he could damn well protect his leader with his life. Ironhide ran with all the might his old legs would allow. Megatron fired, oblivious to Ironhide's desperate attempt to save Optimus from his imminent doom. The faded sapphire color of the supercharged energy, blasted into Ironhide's chest, blowing a beach ball-sized hole almost right through his chest.

"Ironhide! NO!!" Optimus screamed. Ironhide's flew back into Optimus' arms. Ironhide's optics flashed white and immediately fell to a deathly gray color.

"You pesky annoyance!" Megatron barked at the unconscious Autobot. "No matter, Prime, you shall fall like your friend there! HAHAHAHA!!"

"Not if we can help it!" Prowl screamed. Wheeljack, Hound and himself opened fire on Megatron, specifically on his fusion cannon. Several laser blasts varying in many forms pounded the black apparatus on Megatron's right arm, causing the unstable energon inside to overload and explode.

"Noo!! What have you done?! AGGH!!" Megatron screeched in pain. His most prized possession tore into his right arm like thousands of razor sharp daggers, ripping away at his armor. Severed wires sparked and crackled furiously from the shrapnel imbedded into the circuitry of his arm. Pieces of Megatron's fried limb fell to the ground below him. He held onto what was left of his appendage, with his still operable left arm. Energon pink in color, oozed from every crevice on his destroyed arm. Megatron shot a deathly glare at Prowl and the other two Autobots who fired at him, and called in a strained voice, "You all will _pay_ for this! Decepticons retreat! Prime, we shall continue our fight on another day!" With that said Megatron leapt into the air and flew off to his secret base. "Rumble, Frenzy and Ravage disengaged Jazz and Blaster and also leapt up into the air to follow Megatron. Ravage transformed into his black cassette form and fell into Rumble's arms.

"Prime do you want us to chase them down?" Hound anxiously asked.

"No, let them leave; right now we have to help Ironhide." Wheeljack was inspecting the damage that Ironhide endured. Ironhide's wound was coated in an oily pink substance. Wheeljack repaired what he could inside Ironhide with the limited resources he possessed.

"Come on Ironhide, say something! Give me a sign!" Wheeljack demanded, head fins intensely flashing with every word. Ironhide's optics very dimly came to life. Groaning in agony, Ironhide weakly asked Optimus, "Optimus…are you…" Ironhide blacked out before he could finish.

"Slag! Optimus we need to get Ironhide back to the Ark **now** before it's too late." Wheeljack ordered.

"Hey guys what's going on?" Blaster casually asked unaware of Ironhide's current state. Jazz accompanied Blaster as they ran up to the rest of the Autobots.

"Primus! What happened to Ironhide?" Jazz blurted out in shock as he saw Ironhide profusely bleeding energon. Energon began to seep from his slightly ajar mouth.

"Ironhide won't last much longer if we don't get him to Ratchet soon." Wheeljack nervously stated. Before Optimus could tell the Autobots to "roll out," Mirage and Sapphire raced into view. Sapphire, seeing the gaping hole in Ironhide's chest, overtook Mirage and flew up to Wheeljack.

"What the hell happened?" Sapphire demanded.

"No time to talk, we need to get back to the Ark!" Wheeljack replied in a strained voice.

"Leave that to me. Hold on everyone!" Sapphire shouted. A blue aura surrounded all the Autobots and Sapphire. Everyone momentarily was gently lifted up and off the ground, including Mirage who was still racing in his alternative mode. A bright flash of light emitted from Sapphire's body where her heart was located. All the Autobots except Mirage were taken off guard when all the Autobots were simultaneously levitating off the ground. Then—nothing, every mech was gone including Sapphire. The wind gusted where Sapphire once stood, carrying a white patch of fur with it.

* * *

All that Prowl could make out was a blinding white light that as suddenly appeared, vanished; quickly materializing into the familiar woods surrounding the Ark. _"Not again…"_ Prowl thought to himself. Prowl sensed that he was being suspended by some sort of force field, until his feet touched the rocky terrain of the Oregon countryside. His equilibrium was out of whack from the teleportation, and did not ascertain his balance in time. Prowl stumbled backwards and fell right onto his ass. This time however, he did not topple over Optimus or any of his teammates.

"Mirage! Sapphire! Help me with Ironhide now!" Ratchet the CMO of the Autobots cried out. Prowl gradually lifted himself off the ground, and turned in the direction of Ratchet's recognizable scratchy voice. Blaster, Hound, Jazz, Wheeljack, even Optimus Prime were doing the same. Prowl's never-changing stern gaze meet the Ark just in time to witness the trio carry Ironhide into the Ark. Ratchet and Mirage each carried an arm, and Sapphire managed to hold onto both of Ironhide's bulky legs.

"Wow! Now that was something else!" Wheeljack exclaimed in amazement as he held his head with his right hand. Wheeljack looked as if another one of his inventions blew up in his face again.

"Primus! Every time I turn my head, that chick always has somethin' else stashed up her sleeve!" Blaster proclaimed as he too, rose from the mountainous terrain.

"You're tellin' me! I already like that lady! She does things with style, my type of gal." Jazz's lopsided grin stared Blaster in the face.

"Hey now! Don't ya realize that she's still a human?" Blaster challenged Jazz.

"Eh, I'll find a way." Jazz playfully answered. "You're not _jealous_ are you Blaster?" Hound and Wheeljack snickered at Jazz's comment. Blaster's fists clenched and he tackled Jazz, sending both 'bots crashing back to Earth.

"She's the one who saw _me_ first Jazz! She's gotta be diggin' **me** more than **you**!" Blaster angrily shouted as both mechs wrestled each other. Blaster broke off from Jazz's steel grip and sprinted towards him.

"Yeah, but she scared _you_ first remember?" Jazz grabbed Blaster's right arm and flipped him on his back. "Do I have to remind you that li'l Sapphire walked into _my_ hands' willingly and rejected _**your**_ offer?" Jazz stood over Blaster's sprawled out body, and pointed his right index finger at Blaster's face. Blaster just crossed his arms, still lying on his back, and frowned at Jazz. Jazz laughed as he extended his right hand to help Blaster back onto his feet.

"I still think she likes me more Jazz…" Blaster grumbled as he accepted his extended black colored hand.

"Well, that was entertaining while it lasted, eh Wheeljack?" Hound elbowed Wheeljack in his left side. Wheeljack just shook his head at the two music loving mechs.

"Yeah Hound it was. Now that's settled let's see how Ironhide is holding up." Wheeljack proposed as he ran past Jazz and Blaster into the Ark's entrance. Hound and Optimus Prime (dead silent for once) followed closely behind Wheeljack's heels. Jazz and Blaster remained outside for a while longer. A lingering curtain of uncertainty hung over the two 'bots.

"I don't really think I wanna see 'ol 'Hide like that ever again, ya know what I mean Jazz?" Blaster chillingly said.

"Yeah, I know what ya mean, but it's Ironhide. He'll make it through. Plus Ratchet and Wheeljack'll fix 'im up good as new. You'll see." Jazz reassuringly told Blaster as he placed his right arm on Blaster's tense, left shoulder. Neither one of them really wanted to see Ironhide, but he was part of their team—their family. "Let's go buddy."

"Right behind ya Jazz!" Blaster called with confidence. He and Jazz both ran into the Ark; praying that Ironhide would be up and running in no time.

* * *

Author's Notes: Hey all!! Sorry for the HUGE Delay in this chapter… It was a monster to type out. _ Yeah…there are a few cliffhangers. Good thing is that…da dada da!! Pokémon!!! XD Yay! I finally reached the Pokémon element!!!!!! ^_______^ Don't worry though, from now on there will be many more pokémon scenes and other… stuff. ^^; can't give away ALL the info now can I? ^_^ PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!! XO

P.S. on word this was a full 25 pages… ^^;


	5. Chapter 5: Nightmare

Chapter 4

"Nightmare"

The Autobots anxiously waited for the return of their most gutsy, strong hearted 'bot, Ironhide from Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Sapphire's care in the closed off med bay. Optimus Prime with his hands clasped behind his back, paced to and fro in the hallway outlining the med bay doors. Prowl, Mirage, and Hound also accompanied their paranoid Commander. All four mechs seemed to be in their own little world, each doing something different; trying to pass the time. All were waiting for the news.

"Prime…" Mirage quietly pleaded. "Ironhide will be fine. He may be old, but he's a fighter. Don't worry Prime, he'll pull through. Besides, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Sapphire are all repairing him." Optimus slowed his frantic pace down until he halted just in front of Mirage, still looking at a far away distance. Mirage just stood there not knowing whether or not to anticipate one of Prime's seldom back lashings or another one of Prime's famous speeches about his responsibility of the his warriors in battle.

"I have to agree with Mirage on this one Prime. He does have a point." Hound stated. Optimus' hands unclasped behind his back and fell to his sides. His bolded blue optics made their way over to Hound's forest green army jeep figure and Mirage's electric blue race car build. Both tracker and spy diverted their gazes when they saw the genuine concern implanted within Prime's optics. His obvious message of guilt clearly transmitted to Hound and Mirage—without words or through a secret comlink line. The two mechs left their debate with a mute Prime, unfinished. Prowl usually chimed in with conversations such as these to back them up with some sort of logical statement or piece of proof, but today he felt deep within his spark to just let time take its course without his interference.

For a final time the Autobots dispersed and fell back into their "creative" use of free time. Mirage and Hound debated for a while and then walked off towards the rec. room to grab those "drinks" Hound promised Mirage. Prowl remained in the almost vacant hallway. He leaned back onto the wall across from the med bay doors, and pulled out a portable data pad. He began to mess around with unfiled security reports on it. Optimus continued his vain attempt to control his frustration brewing inside of his circuitry about the stark possibility of losing one of his finest field soldiers. Prime continued his trek through the hallway, regretting every footstep. Optimus was not going to leave his position until he _knew_ Ironhide fate. He was not about to abandon his friend in his most desperate time of need, not until he knew the truth.

* * *

"Do you need any help Ironhide?" Sapphire smiled as she cutely asked a very groggy Ironhide. Wheeljack and Ratchet were finishing cleaning up the med bay from their most recent repair job.

"No thanks ma'am." Ironhide sat up from the med bay table where he just finished recovering from his repairs. Ironhide waved back and forth like he was buzzed. "…Aww, get over here. Help me off this blasted table before I fall off it." Sapphire extended her right hand out and Ironhide grasped it with both of his. A little scoot and guided push later, Ironhide leapt off the table and was back on his feet. He stretched his arms up into the air with great relief.

"Ahh, much better." Ironhide sighed. Sapphire eyes gazed upon Ironhide's newly repaired chest cavity. Her eyes then traced up his chest to his head, and they narrowed into icicles. Sapphire whacked Ironhide smack on his red crest on the top of his head. Ironhide stumbled back and tipped over the med bay table and landed back first on it. Ironhide groaned in protest.

"What in the name of Cybertron," Ironhide struggled to lift himself up again. "Was THAT FOR?!?!" Ironhide bellowed.

"THAT was for scaring the living daylights outta everyone, ya glitch head!" Sapphire shot back in the same intensity as Ironhide's. "Damn it Ironhide, you could've died if I didn't zap ya back here when I did!"

Wheeljack, dumbstruck at Sapphire's unexpected violent outburst, turned to Ratchet for some answers.

"Hey, uh, Ratchet? Do ya think we should uh, do something? I mean we just spent three hours fixin' Ironhide up." Wheeljack's head fins brightly flashed with every word. Ratchet chuckled as he watched from afar as Sapphire and Ironhide continued to bicker at each other.

"Naah, they'll get over it soon enough." Ratchet spun his head to the puzzled inventor. "Trust me when I say that Wheeljack." Ratchet turned his attention back to the two after hearing some very "colorful" language used by both Ironhide and Sapphire. A relaxed grin grew upon Ratchet's face as he saw Ironhide wave his hands in defeat against Sapphire. "Yep, she hasn't changed one bit at all after all this time…" Ratchet mainly told himself. "Always being the overprotective mother."

"No kidding." Wheeljack bluntly stated as he walked off to the med bay doors. "Tell me how things turn out will ya Ratchet?" Wheeljack waved back. He unlocked the automatic doors and they sprang to life. Wheeljack stepped outside, and the doors closed behind his back.

"Ya know what Ironhide? Just because of that, I should just kick your ass all the way back to Cybertron for your little 'stunt' back there in New York!"

"HA! I'd like ta see ya try Sapphire." Ironhide challenged. Sapphire turned her back to Ironhide for a few seconds. Her frustration was seen as her arms twitched a bit. When she spun around, she sighed at the floor, releasing all of her frustration into the air.

"Just be a _little_ more careful next time will ya red?" Sapphire bluntly negotiated. Her eyes told a different story. They were filled with concern not scorn.

Ironhide tilted his head as if he rolled his optics. "Fine, just don't git yer head all worked up about me miss." Ironhide gave up on his argument with Sapphire. Sapphire wearily smiled back at Ironhide.

"Now get your ass outta here." Sapphire did the whole thumb-behind-your-shoulder motion. "You have a welcoming party waiting for ya outside." Sapphire began. "Don't wanna keep all the kiddies waiting now do ya?"

"Ha ha very funny Sapphire." Ironhide grinned as he began to exit the med bay. Once Ironhide walked out of the med bay, the automatic doors hissed silently; muting the ruckus beyond the doors.

Sapphire and Ratchet fell silent and did not budge from their positions for a long time. Ratchet continued to stare at Sapphire's back, while Sapphire still gazed at the opaque tear colored doors as she hovered a few feet over the operation table. Sapphire's shoulders relaxed as she quickly faced Ratchet. Ratchet still had that relaxed grin upon his face, but it soon vanished when his blue optics meet Sapphire's face full of sorrow. Sapphire slowly descended onto the table below until both of her feet were pressed flatly on the metallic surface. Ratchet hastily rushed over to Sapphire.

"Everything's okay with you Sapphire? Are you hurt?" Ratchet softly spoke as he looked down at Sapphire's statue-like-body.

"I'm fine Ratchet. It's just—well, I'm not exactly proud of what I did today, especially to those Decepticons." Sapphire peeked over the tops of her glasses to Ratchet. She sighed at Ratchet's concerned expression she was staring into and sat herself down on the ledge of the operation table. Her forearms crossed over her thighs and she folded her hands. Sapphire just sat there. Ratchet climbed up on the table as well and sat right next to Sapphire's hunched over body.

Ratchet leaned closer to Sapphire. "I've got time to hear you out." He placed his right mechanical, red hand upon Sapphire's back. Ratchet's hand literally cloaked Sapphire's entire backside. Sapphire tensed as she felt his touch. Ratchet out of a long forgotten instinct began to rhythmically rub Sapphire's panel-like back with his thumb.

"You _always_ have time to talk to me Ratchet." Sapphire sarcastically emphasized. On the outside Sapphire didn't show it, but she really needed this time alone with an old friend. Sapphire loosened up a bit and straightened up her back, and she clasped the edge of the table. Sapphire swung her legs back and forth, each time her heel made a soft dinging noise when it made contact with the underside of the table. Ratchet slowed his gentle stroking gesture and allowed Sapphire to adjust her posture. For a moment neither of the two ancient beings spoke. The both could not come up with the words to describe their feelings of happiness and remorse. Ratchet could not wait any longer. He opened up his right hand and offered Sapphire a lift. Sapphire tilted her head up and backwards and gave Ratchet a genuine "WTF" look.

"Come on now, I've just realized that you were here on Earth under my nose like seven hours ago, and NOW you want to me spend time with YOU?" Sapphire cutely smiled up at a giant, grey, metallic face. Ratchet and Sapphire laughed at each other's ridiculous confused facial expressions.

"Well, that's not exactly what I had in mind." Ratchet chuckled. "I mean—" Ratchet paused, searching his memory banks intensely for the right words. "It's been five million years Sapphire since the explosion at that Asteroid Facility. Since that day Sapphire," Ratchet slid off the table and stepped in front and knelt eye level to Sapphire. "During the escape, I thought that you perished in the explosion…" Sapphire averted her glossy blue eyes away from Ratchet's hazy cerulean optics.

"Every single day after that day, I prayed for a miracle that somehow—you survived not only the explosion, but to your over exposure to that toxic chemical Xenium." Ratchet grabbed both of Sapphire's stiff shoulders with his trembling hands. Sapphire delicately placed both of her chilling hands on the outside of Ratchet's warm, crimson red hands. Ratchet was instantly soothed by Sapphire's touch, but there was something else in her touch that paralyzed Ratchet right down to his spark.

"Ratchet…" Sapphire spoke in her soft voice. "Am I here now? Do I _look_ like a singed bag of flesh?" Sapphire's ocean blue eyes locked with Ratchet's frightened optics. "Those times in that facility are in the past Ratchet. Don't beat yourself up over that anymore. Please Ratchet," Sapphire pleaded. She could not bear watching Ratchet—her best friend, slowly tear himself apart on the inside and suffer in his misery any longer. "Let it go. Let go of those memories Ratchet. Five million years has been a _long_ time. What has happened in the past is over." Ratchet's hand stopped trembling after Sapphire spoke.

"But I—"

"I do not care how guilty you feel about it, but seeing you in this state is just ridiculous." Sapphire broke away from Ratchet's grasp and floated just inches away from his anguished face. With the back of her right hand she gently brushed Ratchet's left cheek.

"For the last time you big baby, let _go_." Sapphire backed away from Ratchet's depressed facial expression to allow him to collect his jumbled thoughts. Almost immediately after Sapphire backed away, she was snatched up in Ratchet's clunky white arms. He pulled her back close to his chest and neck. Sapphire could feel his spark pulsate rapidly behind his windshield chestplate. "_I can't let you go ever again, not after what I had to watch you go through._" Ratchet thought to himself. Sapphire reached out telepathically into Ratchet's conscience just to see firsthand how much he had to endure since the Explosion at the Research facility on a remote asteroid orbiting around the outer fringes of the Lylat system.

Sapphire's eyes widened in amazement and in fear. She felt all of Ratchet's emotions and fears fall upon her and crush her. Sapphire felt her heart turn to ice from her own fears. Sapphire trembled slightly at Ratchet's emotional and mental pains. Ratchet noticed Sapphire's lack of her emotional control and eased off his embrace to gaze down at her visibly shaking body.

"I'm so sorry Ratchet, for scaring you all these years." Sapphire said in a quivering voice. "I didn't realize that—"

"Don't be sorry Sapphire." Ratchet said in a lowered voice. "I should be the one apologizing to you—for leaving you to die on that damn slaggin' rock."

"Now what did I just say?" Sapphire playfully smiled up at Ratchet.

"Sorry…" Ratchet did not share the same humor level as Sapphire. Ratchet held Sapphire tighter in his arms. Sapphire usually wasn't the hugging type, but for now, she didn't mind.

"Do ya wanna know something Ratchet?" Sapphire rested her head on Ratchet's chest.

"What?"

"I believed that you died in that explosion as well. In the back of my mind I tried to suppress the thought that none of those shuttles ever left any of those docking bays. I was scared out of my mind when I had to push you into that shuttle. I wanted you to live the rest of your life without suffering from my mistakes. I wanted you to live, and to be finally free again." Ratchet blinked.

"I could have boarded that shuttle with you, but I knew that those sentry droids would have torn apart most, if not all of the escape ships. Someone _had_ to stay behind so that thousands more could live, including you." Sapphire sighed and ran her fingers across Ratchet's chest window. "To be honest with you, I thought that moment just before I pushed you into the ship…I thought that was going to be last time I would ever see you or anyone else—alive." Sapphire tried to keep her tears from streaming down her face. Ratchet said nothing. He wanted to hear everything that Sapphire had to tell him.

"Those droids were far stronger than I anticipated. They tore through me in minutes, but in those few minutes that I held them off saved everyone's lives. My actions that day should have taken my life." A single tear rolled down Sapphire's right cheek. "To this day I _still_ don't know how I survived the explosion, but I did, and now here we are; together again." Ratchet lifted Sapphire off his chest a few inches and lifted her chin with his right index finger. For a moment both Sapphire and Ratchet looked at each other not to see what they were thinking, but to comfort each other. Ratchet wiped away the sole tear with his left thumb. Before he could pull away, Sapphire reached out to his hand. She barely grazed his left hand with hers, and Ratchet froze. Sapphire grasped his hand with both of hers and closed her eyes. She rested her head in his palm and just clung to dear life on his hand.

"Whatever you do, never give up hope Ratchet. Never give up…" Sapphire channeled her emotions directly to Ratchet's processor. Ratchet cupped her head and tenderly rubbed the side of it with his thumb.

"From now on Sapphire, I _will_ protect you as you did to me those many solar cycles ago. I will _never_ leave you ever again. I promise." Sapphire looked up at Ratchet after he spoke. She forced out a pseudo smile.

"Don't worry about me Ratchet. I've survived far worse." Sapphire yawned and wearily blinked.

"When was the last time you had some shut eye Sapphire?" Ratchet's medical instincts kicked into gear.

"About…uhh…four days ago?" Sapphire nervously laughed. Ratchet twitched in anger.

"What? Four days ago!? What the frag is wrong with you Sapphire!" Ratchet carried Sapphire to his desk in the far southern side of the med bay. "Do I dare ask _why_ have you been up for four days?"

"Interviews in four different countries; five if you count tomorrow's." Sapphire gave Ratchet a "I-didn't-do-anything-wrong" smile.

"Well this ends _now_. See my desk right there?" Ratchet pointed to an orange colored table with assorted medical tools and spare parts scattered on its metallic surface. "Consider that your bed starting NOW."

"Yes sir, doc bot!" Sapphire flew out of Ratchet's arms and saluted him.

"Oh yeah, you haven't changed one slaggin' bit at all." Ratchet bluntly said to Sapphire.

* * *

In the day the Ark seemed like any old military base, but when the night sky draped across the golden sky, the Autobots relaxed a little bit more than usual. Of course there were always those few 'bots that _never_ ceased working. Prowl was inside his cramped up office space sifting through unread progress reports, injury tallies: documents that any other second-in-command would have to read. Prowl's optics could not stand two to three hours straight on his computer screen, so he transferred all of his data onto little portable touch screen data pads. Prowl was just minding his own business when an unwelcomed blue mech decided that Prowl needed some down time.

"Something the matter Mirage?" Prowl asked without looking up from the illuminating blue pad in his hands.

"Always finishing up on those data pads eh Prowl?" Mirage leaned up against the door frame to the entrance of Prowl's office/quarters. "You know, you should take a break every now and then, unless you want your optics to burn out." Prowl turned his back to Mirage to file some more reports.

"Your humor is unnecessary Mirage." Mirage just smiled.

"Come on Prowl, the 'gon is on me." Prowl swiveled around in his chair to face Mirage. Mirage's smile faded.

"Suit yourself then." Mirage spun on his heels and began his trek back to the rec. room. "I wonder if Sapphire would mind the grand tour around the Ark with me." Mirage purposefully said out loud to draw Prowl away from his little make-shift work station. Mirage got what he wanted.

"She's still here?" Prowl's wings perked up in curiosity.

"Yeah her and Ratchet apparently have know each other for quite some time now. They've known each other before we crashed here on the Ark." Mirage returned to Prowl's doorway.

"Impossible. Humans cannot live for that long." Prowl thought about many explanations to solve this mystery until one seemed to fit, but it was the one that he did not expect. "Unless…no…" His voice was almost inaudible.

"She's no ordinary human, that's for sure…" Mirage tossed back at Prowl. "I mean if you _want_ to ask her and all of your little questions, she's in the med bay with Ratchet. That's all I know so far. Good luck Prowl." Prowl blinked at Mirage's comment. "You're gonna need it." With that Mirage was out of sight and Prowl was left alone with his thoughts.

"Before the Ark crashed…" Prowl repeated to himself. "Sapphire…what _are_ you?" Prowl stood up and walked out of his quarters down the hallways towards the med bay. _"I'm going to find out soon enough."_

_

* * *

  
_

"Ratchet?" Prowl called into the dimly lit medical bay as he waltz on in.

"Ratchet are you even—"

"Hey pipe down Prowl." Ratchet whispered loudly from behind him. Prowl spun around to speak with the Ark's CMO faceplate-to-faceplate.

"Ratchet, is Sapphire still in here?" Prowl spoke in a lowered voice.

"Yeah, she is but keep it down. She's resting now." Prowl shot Ratchet a confused look.

"At 6pm?"

"She's been up for four days straight Prowl." Prowl fell silent. "She needs her rest." Ratchet nodded to his cluttered desk. On top of it was not the human female he encountered earlier that day. A white, cat-like beast with large paws supporting equally as large black claws, and a scythe-shaped horn extending out on the animal's right side of its head took Sapphire's place on the table. Prowl's wings twitched as he stepped back a few feet.

"Is that Sapphire?" Prowl was confused beyond repair. "But how? Did she—transform into that animal?"

"Yes she did, and before you ask: Sapphire is **not** an average human being." Prowl would have to settle talking with Ratchet instead of Sapphire. Prowl concluded that Ratchet knew Sapphire more than anyone else.

"Then, what exactly is she then?" Prowl cautiously asked as he inched his way toward the beast.

"To tell you the truth, she doesn't even know what she is." Ratchet bowed his head in grief. Prowl froze and stiffly turned his head back at Ratchet; optics wide with fear.

"All her life, she's been searching the universe to answer that very question." Ratchet walked past Prowl's frozen body frame up to his desk. "I don't know how anyone can live without knowing what they are, and where they came from." Prowl remained silent as he joined Ratchet.

"When the time comes, I would like to speak with her about her abilities." Prowl's face reverted back into his emotionless expression. Prowl did not notice that he was staring at Sapphire's white beast form.

"You'll get your chance sooner than you'll expect it. Anyways, tomorrow she needs to be outta here by six in the morning for an interview. I would stay and keep an eye on her, but I'm starting to get low on energy." Ratchet stretched his arms over his head and his war-torn gears in his shoulders creaked. "But just to be on the safe side, I still need someone to look out for her." Prowl already knew where this was heading. He sighed.

"I'll watch over her tonight." Prowl said in an unwilling voice.

"Not like I gave you a choice in the matter." A tiny smirk passed over Ratchet's face. "Besides," Ratchet turned and headed for the exit. "This will be a great time to get acquainted with her."

"Come again? I thought you said she is recharging?" Ratchet chuckled.

"There's more than one way to talk to that girl." Prowl opened his mouth in protest, but the med bay doors silently closed in Prowl's face. Again, Prowl was left alone to recollect his thoughts.

"_Great, how am I supposed to communicate with Sapphire when I can't speak to her directly?" _Prowl thought to himself.

"_With your thoughts of course." _Prowl quickly spun around to face where he heard Sapphire's voice. Prowl froze when no one was there. Whispers filled his audios coming from all directions.

"What in the name of Cybertron?" Prowl heard an impish laugh surround him.

"_Prowl, you disappoint me. You, out of all the mechs I've met, are scared of me?" _Sapphire's voice telepathically called out to him.

"_You are by far the strangest organic females I have ever met."_ Prowl turned he head back to face Sapphire's sleeping form on Ratchet's desk.

"_Hey now, I saved your skid plate twice today. Give me a chance Prowl." _A brief silence filled the room.

"_Well, you DID come in here to talk to me right?" _Sapphire slowly questioned Prowl.

"_Yes I did, and I intend to know just who you are."_

"_Aww, that's so sweet of you Prowl!" _Prowl ignored Sapphire's comment.

"_How long have you known Ratchet?"_

"_Eh…I'd say for about five million years. Before your ship crashed here on Earth."_

"_How did you find out about—" _

"_Your thoughts are difficult to decipher Prowl, but I did manage to make out that much." _Prowl stood there in complete amazement. _"Now I promise you this, I will never again tap into your processer or anyone else here at your base. I'm sorry that I did that." _

"_So you can look into and control a beings subconscious?" _

"_I only do that when I need to, as a last resort, or to gather information." _Prowl nodded his head in conformation.

"_What else are you capable of?" _

"_What else do you wanna know?" _Sapphire shot back.

"_Everything." _

"_In time my friend will you understand. It's better off if you see firsthand." _Prowl didn't want to aggravate Sapphire, but he wanted to know everything now. Why was she capable of such mind bending powers, abilities, and skills that an average human being could not? So many questions—

Sapphire's beast form twitched and opened its eyes. Prowl protectively stepped back a few paces.

"Learn to control your thoughts Prowl…" Sapphire sleepily stated. She yawned; revealing four razor sharp canines and other assorted predatory teeth. "Now that I'm up, what time is it?"

"It's six twenty-two pacific time." Prowl checked his internal chrono.

"Joy. Well, if you don't mind I'm gonna have to ask ya to leave…please." Sapphire curled back into a comfortable position again.

"Very well, but I wish to continue this conversation sometime again in the future." Prowl began to make his way to the exit.

"A date Prowl? Geez Mr. Light speed, I guess it's a deal…" Prowl sharply turned around to protest, but his sensors indicated that Sapphire fell back into recharge mode. Prowl's wings dropped a bit as he sighed. He continued his way out of the med bay.

"No wonder why Mirage told me good luck…" Prowl thought aloud to himself as he walked out of the med bay.

A smile crept across the white beast.

* * *

_"Doctor experiment X2442 is awaking."_

_"Very good, let the procedure begin."_

_"Yes doctor…"_

_Hundreds of sharp needles pierced the skin of the subject's body. They all injected thick, purple tinted ooze. Screams of agony came from the Subject's throat that it could not hold back any longer. Tinted blood poured from all of the injection sights on the subject's restrained body. The contaminated blood dripped down into the subject's eyes._

_"Doctor! Something unforeseen is happening! X2442 is mutating!"_

_"Into what?!"_

_"I—I don't know, but it's energy levels are off the charts and—Agh!" The subject heard a series of explosions. The barrage of needles slowly pulled one by one out of the subject's bloody skin._

_"What in the hell…?" The scientists watched their experiment inside a contained room erratically twist and turn. Coal colored claws formed where the subject's hands and feet were. It's back split and large black spines ran down its back and onto a newly formed six foot muscular tail. The tip of its tail looked like a silver battle axe. As the subject's shoulders and body grew in size, twelve foot bony wings with tattered black flesh punctured through its still forming armor plated skin._

_The subject arched its back and uttered one final cry of agony as its face elongated into a serpentine snout. The subject's ears rose up above its eyes and formed into white horns. Inside of its mouth the teeth of the experiment changed into five inch long serrated teeth. The bindings and chains that held the experiment down bursted from the expansion of the subject's body mass._

_"Sedate that monster! Quickly, before it attacks!!" The Doctor in charge of this failed experiment screamed at his staff. X2442 heard the command and reared up on its back feet and let out a blood curdling screech. All of the scrambling scientists were paralyzed by the beast's scream. They all stared at what they just created in their attempts to reconfigure an organic into an invincible weapon of war._

_The subject's eyes were affected by the purple ooze, and they mutated into scarlet colored irises with a soul piercing black pupil slit. Those eyes of death penetrated into each of the "insect's" bodies._

_"PUNCH IT!!" The beast roared again and began to thrash uncontrollably inside of the armored plated room. White smoke entered through vents inside of the room. The sedative inside of the smoke dug its way into the dragon's nostrils and stung its blood red eyes. Its limbs quickly lost their strength and gave out from underneath it. The beast collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness. It only remembered two words as it passed out on the floor._

_"Terminate it."_

* * *

"SAPPHIRE!!" Sapphire's beast form awoke in a frenzy and leapt at the black-and-white mech that stood in front of her. Prowl reacted quickly and suppressed Sapphire's cat-like form in his arms. Sapphire squirmed a bit in Prowl's arms, and as quickly she attacked she fell limp in his arms. Her heart was racing from an adrenaline rush. As she started to calm down her head fell upon the Autobot insignia on Prowl's chest. Inside Prowl's chest she heard a pulsating noise resembling a heartbeat, racing just as fast as hers.

"What the slag is wrong with you Sapphire?!" Prowl scolded her.

"Wha—? What just…happened?" Sapphire shrank into Prowl's arms. Her voice mimicked her gesture.

"Sapphire?" Prowl lowered his voice back to his steady tone. "Are you alright? You're trembling. What's going on?" Authority dominated in his last sentence. Sapphire looked up into Prowl's concerned blue optics. Prowl didn't realize this earlier, but Sapphire's eyes were now blazing red instead of the relaxing blue color they usually were.

"Nothing…Just some, unwanted memories." Sapphire relaxed and she heard Prowl's internal beating slow down as well.

"Well, you did request to be woken up before six in the morning. It is five thirty-one at the moment." Prowl confusingly stated to change the subject.

"Shit! I forgot about that interview in New York!" Sapphire wriggled frantically in Prowl's arms. Prowl placed Sapphire gently back on Ratchet's clean desk. All of the tools and parts were knocked off by Sapphire in her sleep.

"I don't have much time, but I think I will be able to say goodbye to the Autobots that I met earlier. Excuse me for one moment." Sapphire reared up on her hind legs and her white fur dissolved revealing her black cargo pants and her blue graphic T-shirt. Her back legs bent back into the correct shape of human appendages. The gray tinted cat face melted back into Sapphire's youthful face and her curly brown hair fell down to her shoulders.

"Much better." Sapphire stretched her arms in the air and cracked her neck. Prowl flinched a bit when Sapphire's neck cracked.

"Please refrain from doing that."

"Sorry, just another one of my awful habits that I need to break." Sapphire threw Prowl a lopsided grin that mirrored Jazz's. A faint smile passed over Prowl's faceplate.

"Prowl? Would you be so kind as to show me the exit to your…uh home?" Sapphire hesitantly asked as she glanced over the med bay again.

"Follow me if you will." Prowl spun around and walked towards the exit. Sapphire levitated through the air to follow.

* * *

"Aww…you're leaving already?" Blaster whined at Sapphire.

"Sorry Blaster, but I gotta go to this interview. Don't worry, I promise to visit again IF it's alright with Optimus Prime." Sapphire pulled out a tiny electronic device in her side pocket. She hit a couple of buttons and put it back.

"That is fine by me Sapphire." Optimus raised his right hand in agreement.

"Thanks big guy."

"What was that thing-a-majig you just pulled outta yer pocket?" Ironhide crossed his arms and nodded his head at Sapphire.

"You'll see soon enough—and speaking of soon enough," Sapphire turned around and pointed at the still darkened sky. "My ride is here." A faint humming noise echoed in the distance behind a batch of low altitude clouds. The craft that tore through the clouds was none other than Sapphire's Arwing.

"Well I'll be…" Wheeljack shook his head in amazement. "How'd ya do that?" The Arwing descended and slowed its speed drastically until it landed on a fairly large, flat rock beside Sapphire. The landing gears emitted white smoke that was quickly overtaken by the wind and blown away.

"You're the scientist Wheeljack as I've heard, you figure it out." Sapphire dug back into her pocket again and tossed Wheeljack the tiny rectangular device.

"Just don't blow it up will ya 'Jack?" Mirage jokingly blurted out. Wheeljack glared at Mirage and went on to examine the intricate device.

"Well…I guess I'll be on my way now. It's been a pleasure to meet all of ya. Hope you feel better Skyfire. You two Red.

"I'm back to normal thanks to you and Ratchet." Skyfire smiled at Sapphire.

"Ha! It'll take more than that ol' bucket of rusted bolts Megatron to bring me down!" Ironhide hit his chest with his fist. Sapphire chuckled at both of the mechs.

"You're welcome." Sapphire cheerily stated as she jumped up on her Arwing's left wing.

"Don't forget to write Sapph'!" Jazz waved Sapphire off.

"Yeah, just write to me first!" Blaster called out. Jazz elbowed him in the side.

"Good luck Sapphire!" Hound happily waved back.

"Thanks guys. Keep an eye out for me on ze newz!" Sapphire did a one armed cartwheel into the pilot's seat. "And it was nice catching up with ya Ratchet!"

"Anytime Sapphire!" Ratchet contently smiled back. The rest of the Autobots, including the stick-in-the-mud Prowl all waved goodbye to Sapphire as she closed the tinted canopy of her Arwing. She semi-saluted them off by using two of her fingers as the canopy slowly closed. The Arwing rumbled to life as it vertically rose off the rocky terrain and began to drift backwards. Once it was a good twenty meters away, Sapphire spun the aircraft around and punched it. The Arwing's two rear plasma engines fired up and propelled the craft forward up into the fading starry horizon.

"_Please be careful Sapphire, and don't say anything that you'll regret…" _Ratchet thought to himself.

* * *

~30 Minutes before the interview~

Sapphire stared into the crowd of reporters and news journalists in front of her; waiting for a response or a question. One man in his thirties stood up in his full, dusted, gray suit.

"So Miss Denver, what are your future plans for your National Security career? There have been rumors that you have been thinking about resigning by the end of this month." Sapphire chose her words wisely to answer the dynamic question.

"That is partially true. You see I have thought about this option for a good month now, and I've decided to take that door. As of now, I am effective immediately resigning as Chief of the United States Intelligence and National Security Agency. From now on I will operate under my regulations, not the United States." The cloud of journalists that sat before Sapphire buzzed to life. The reporters were trying to ask all their pointless questions that they could possibly ask—at once. Hundreds of bright annoying blips from oversized Canon Cameras stabbed into Sapphire's irises.

"_Damn journalists."_ Sapphire thought to herself. _"One thing I _hate_ more than politics are journalists."_

"I will take no more questions at this time. Thank you." Sapphire's glasses shone with relief as she was escorted from the premises of the "Conference room". She quickly turned away from the hyped up batch of people blabbing off too many questions for Sapphire to understand. Sapphire mentally blotted out the headache inducing chatter with images of the Autobots.

They were so kind to her; always competing to see who could win her heart first. Well, that's what Jazz and Blaster _tried_ to do. A faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she walked out into the main lobby of CNN's Headquarters in New York. Sapphire was lost in the memories of her new—

"Ma'am! If you would follow me please." A blonde receptionist squeaked to Sapphire.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, right behind you Miss." Sapphire spoke sadly to the "fake smiling" lady. All of Sapphire's thoughts about the Autobots she helped two days ago popped like bubbles in her mind. Mentally, she tried to reach out and hold onto the memories, but they dissolved when she touched them. Sapphire was left all alone in the dark capacity of her mind.

"_It's been far too long since I've met beings who were so willing to reach out and help me…or even act civil towards me…" _

"Did you say something Ma'am?"

"Huh? No, no, I was just prepping myself for this ass grinding interview." Sapphire bluntly stated back at the preppy looking blonde. The receptionist could not help herself but to giggle at Sapphire's attempt at comedy.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Yeah, same here…" Sapphire mournfully sighed. "I just hope I can see them again after this…"

"The reporters?" Sapphire didn't realize that she said that last sentence out loud.

"God no, just…some friends of mine."

* * *

Author's Notes: YAYZ!!! I'M FINALLY DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER!!!!! *Jumps for joy* I'm very pleased on how I wrote this, and I hope you readers keep on reading this random scrap and REVIEW!!!!! PLEASE!!! *begs*


	6. Chapter 6: Change Is For The Best

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, but I do own this story of mine…and yes I know I haven't said this on my previous entries, so I'll continue from now on.**

* * *

Chapter 5

"Change Is For The Best"

_Present_

Sapphire still did not budge from her cozy pilot's seat in her custom Arwing. She was still trying to hold back her memories of her "_distant_" friends of her past. Tears began to well up behind her clenched up eyes. Sapphire could not fight it any longer; said tears began to stream down her cheeks and splash with hushed drops onto the flight controls in her Arwing.

"Why…why am I still crying over them!? Time has moved on…" Sapphire bitterly shouted between her teeth. "I still don't know _who_ was responsible for their deaths…" Sapphire whimpered to herself. She slammed her fists on the control panel sending her tears twinkling in the soft flow of the light emitted from the Arwing's multi-colored buttons on the controls in front of her.

Flashbacks of her friends and adopted family being tortured and murdered for the sheer hell of it by an unknown adversary back on her home planet she could not remember. Screams of agony and suffering flushed back into her eardrums as if they were all right in front of her. Sapphire covered her ears with her hands and shouted, "Stop it! Leave them alone!" Snapshots of the blood splattered floors and walls stuck to her eyes like how feathers stick to glue. All of the senseless killings—painfully slow killings were all emerging from the back of her memory. She tried and tried to seal them away in the room of "Memories I don't ever want to see again" but the overwhelming accumulation of their faces pleading for Sapphire's help shoved her out of the way. The fact that this really had happened in the past did not faze her anymore. It was just the fact that she was **forced** to watch **all** of her friends and "family" die in pain and suffering. Letting them go was nothing compared to the guilt of being helpless when watching them die in the hands of a lethal shadow. Sapphire hit the panel in front of her again and the canopy of the Arwing hissed open. Sapphire jumped back in her seat, and pulled out her concealed, silver hand blaster.

She sighed and slumped in her black leather seat even further. She put her blaster away and effortlessly climbed out of her aircraft. Once she was out, Sapphire manually closed the opaque canopy. She kept her hands on the tinted plasma glass for a few more seconds; trying to regain her composure once more. One big sigh later, Sapphire wiped her tear-stained cheeks and mentally flipped the power switch on in the hangar bay. She turned around and walked off the nose of her craft. Inside the silver plated bay, there were a couple of randomly placed work benches cluttered with fried wiring, spare gears, and various tool boxes overflowing with equally diversified tools for all types of repairs on her Arwing when it sustained damage. Oh, did it remind her of Ratchet's repair bay back in the Ark.

"Ratchet…" Sapphire whispered to herself with a smile. She was glad—scratch that, _blissful_ that she finally saw that short tempered CMO again after all of those years. Just thinking about _any_ of the Autobots created a sense of purpose inside of Sapphire. **A purpose to keep on fighting.** "I'm _definitely_ going to see those Autobots again."

"ALRIGHT ! WAY TA GO SAPPHIRE!" Sapphire whipped out her blaster again and aimed it at the source of the uninvited visitor's general direction. Only to Sapphire's dismay, she found herself aiming at the terrifying form of…a red boom box. Sapphire sidestepped her way towards the contraption (that to Sapphire's knowledge she did not own) and curiously tapped the grey handle of the stereo with the barrel of her pistol.

"Blaster?" Sapphire cautiously asked the object. "Is that you?"

"The one and only babe!" The red boom box cheerily replied. Sapphire sighed in relief and holstered her weapon for a final time.

"You had me going there for a sec Blaster. Next time give me a heads up when you decide to drop on by." Sapphire picked up Blaster's alt. form and gave it a big hug. Her cheek pressed up against Blaster's right speaker.

"Hey, hey! Don't ya wanna give ol' Jazz some lovin' too Sapphire?" Sapphire spun around to find a white Porsche with a white "4" painted on top of the blue racing stripes on the hood of the car. The Porsche transformed beside her Arwing, and Jazz leaned up against the lower left purple stabilizer of the Arwing.

"Jazz! You came too?" Sapphire excitedly asked. She set Blaster back where he was originally spotted and flew over to Jazz, clinging to him by the neck.

"Who else would deserve the privilege of driving Blaster's can around this planet?" Jazz hugged Sapphire back. Sapphire looked up to Jazz into his trademark lopsided grin planted upon his face.

"Well you're a fine slaggin' friend Jazz…" Blaster flatly commented as he transformed into his bipedal form.

"Well, I don't care if you two hate each other now, I still love ya both for coming out and visiting me." Sapphire flew over to Blaster and wrapped her limber arms around Blaster's neck. Blaster was a bit bewildered by Sapphire's comment, but he didn't mind having a fine lookin' lady hanging off of him anymore than Jazz. Blaster could feel Jazz's glare pierce right down to Blaster's inner circuitry. He reciprocated a "sucks-to-be-you" grin.

"Speaking of visiting me, how did you two find out where I lived so quickly?" Sapphire quizzically asked as she released herself from Blaster and grounded herself.

"Teletraan 1. Blaster and I were bored and lonely…so we decided to do a quick search and, here we are. We didn't wait that long for ya to return."

"_Oh crap. I hope they didn't see me cry."_

"But my question is what did ya do for seven hours after your interview.?" Jazz placed both hands on his hips.

"Eh, I was bored too, so I caught up on my DS gaming hood." Sapphire nonchalantly said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"DS? What he slag is that?" Blaster asked and cocked his head.

"This." Sapphire unbuttoned her right leg pocket and pulled out an onyx colored rectangle. Sapphire flipped it open to show Blaster the touch screen and stylus. She explained to Blaster how some games incorporated the touch screen into the game play. He listened intently to every word Sapphire said while Jazz caught bits and pieces on what she was babbling on about. He was too preoccupied looking around Sapphire's hangar bay.

"Wow that's kinda sweet—for primitive technology anyways."

"Yeah, well, since you guys were so generous and stopped on by, do ya'll want the not-so-grand tour of my place?"

"I'd love to." Jazz replied with a grin.

"Sure why not." Peeped Blaster. Sapphire nodded with a smirk and beckoned both mechs to follow her. Sapphire walked over to an automated door with a high tech keypad to the right of it. Sapphire dialed in a five digit code and just like magic, the doors and ceiling to her home increased in size to accommodate Sapphire's unusually tall guests. She walked on through the twenty foot doorway and smiled back at the two 'bots. The duo both grinned back at their host and walked on through the enlarged doorway into Sapphire's living room.

"Well, this is my living/gaming room." On top of the wooden flooring there was a fifty-inch flat screen with a Nintendo Wii, X-Box 360, and a Playstation 2 settled below the T.V stand. To the right of the black metal stand were two guitars and a drum set for Guitar Hero: World Tour. There were also at least twenty games per console along with other games for the N64, NES, and Sega on a neatly organized wooden shelf to the left of the black stand.

"Wow, now _that's_ a bunch of games ya have there Sapph." Jazz's jaw dropped in awe at Sapphire's collection.

"Sapph? Hmm…I kinda like that Jazz. It's catchy." Sapphire tilted her head up into the air and rubbed her chin in agreement. Jazz's faceplate was split in two by a satisfying grin. Blaster, oblivious to Jazz's overwhelming merriment in pleasing Sapphire, was curiously looking over the two guitar controllers.

"Yo Sapphire, what do these things do?" Blaster poked the black guitar with his giant index finger.

"Oh, those are the controllers for Guitar Hero. Maybe later you guys can play it." Sapphire floated on up to Blaster and jabbed him in his right forearm. "I'm sure you'll love it."

"Sweet." Blaster rubbed the spot where Sapphire's right fist dented his arm.

"Now, if you two will follow me…" Sapphire introduced Jazz and Blaster the rest of her tiny home. The disguised hangar was the sole attachment to her home (which she built from scratch). Sapphire explained to the two mechs how she really enjoyed a peaceful plot of land to herself—with no neighbors. Sapphire didn't say it to Jazz or Blaster, but she was thankful that they dropped on by because if they did not, she would be currently moping about her troubled past in the sanctity of her Arwing.

"Hey Sapph, can we check this 'Guitar Hero' out now?" Jazz asked in anticipation.

"Sure can. Hey Blaster, could ya hand me those two Guitars please?" Blaster grabbed the black and white colored guitars with assorted stickers plastered all over their outer casings, and handed them to Sapphire. Once in her hands, Sapphire used her psychic energy to super-size the controllers so that Jazz and Blaster's blocky fingers wouldn't press three buttons at the same time.

"There we go. Now you two decide who gets what. I just need a couple of seconds to set up the drum set."

"I call the pimped out black one!" Jazz raised his right hand in the air and pointed with his right hand at the alleged "pimped out" guitar.

"You can _have_ that one. I'm takin' this mighty fine white one." Blaster said in a nice smooth voice.

"Umm…Sapph? How do we use these?" Jazz held the neck of the controller out in front of him looking stupidly at the guitar. Sapphire couldn't help but stifle a laugh as Blaster too was having trouble trying to figure out his guitar as well.

"You guys see the strap? Put it on over your head and have it sit on your left shoulder. Like this." Sapphire "attempted" to teach the clueless mechs the 101 on how to wear a guitar. But since the body of the black controller was roughly the same height as half of Sapphire's entire body, the difficulty on the "easy shit to do" meter rose five clicks. Luckily for Sapphire Jazz and Blaster caught on quickly and finally strapped their guitar controllers on. Sapphire willed her Wii on and already started the game; currently scrolling through the list of songs on World Tour.

"Okay, how about this one?" Sapphire stopped the cursor on What I've Done by Linkin Park. "Personally this is one of _my_ favorite songs of all time." Sapphire hit the green pad on the drum set to quickly choose characters.

"Okay when this starts up you see that you have five different colored buttons right?" Jazz and Blaster nodded in unison. "When you see the buttons appear on the screen you press it and strum at the same time. Got that?" Again Jazz and Blaster nodded nervously.

"Trust me it's a lot easier when you actually play." Sapphire hit the green pad again to finally begin the song and the stage appeared on the flat screen in HD. Sapphire started off with a drum solo on Expert while Jazz and Blaster started to head bang to the familiar tune.

"I'm diggin' this game already!" Jazz announced as he came in on the lead guitar part.

"I'm comin' over here every chance I can now!" Blaster laughed as he came in on a rockin' bass line. Both Jazz and Blaster were playing on hard, but for their first time playing Guitar Hero, they played like pros. All three of them sang along to the lyrics.

"_In this farewell _

_ There's no blood, _

_There's no alibi._

'_Cause I've drawn regret _

_From the truth _

_Of a thousand lies._

_So let mercy come, _

_And wash away_

_What I've done. _

_I'll face myself_

_To cross out what I've become._

_Erase myself,_

_And let go of what I've done._

_Put to rest _

_What you thought of me._

_While I clean this slate _

_With the hands _

_Of uncertainty._

_So let mercy come, _

_And wash away_

_What I've done._

_I'll face myself _

_To cross out what I've become._

_Erase myself, _

_And let go of what I've done._

_For what I've done_

_I start again,_

_And whatever pain may come_

_Today this ends._

_I'm forgiving what I've done._

_I'll face myself._

_To cross out what I've become._

_Erase myself, and let go of what I've done_

_What I've done._

_Forgiving what I've done._

"So what didja two think about Guitar Hero?" Sapphire crossed her arms still holding her drumsticks.

"That was fraggin' AWESOME!!" Jazz jumped in glee like a kid on Christmas day.

"One thing that I love more than music is a game about _playin'_ some kick aft tunes!" Blaster just stared at the T.V. screen with a grin that said "HOLY GOD".

I'm glad that ya guys liked it." Sapphire smiled at the two. She then turned off her Wii and T.V. and Blaster and Jazz groaned in disappointment. They wanted to play some more fake guitar parts. "Hey, chill out guys. There's plenty of time to do this again, but right now I'm gonna go outside."

"Why? It's getting dark?" Jazz set his black guitar down on Sapphire's couch, taking up a vast majority of it in the process.

"Yeah, why do ya wanna go outside now? It's not like _you_ can do anything now." Blaster stating it as-a-matter-of-fact; he too set his Transformer sized white guitar on the wall where the guitars used to be. Sapphire shook her head and began to laugh.

"Then let me show _you_ guys what one can do at this time of day." Sapphire lifted off the wooden floor and flew back into her Arwing's hangar bay. Two confused but extremely curious Autobots looked at each other and ran off after Sapphire. Sapphire manually opened the left blast door and motioned for Jazz and Blaster to follow her outside in the twilight filled scenery. The golden ball of gas was a mere sliver of light retreating behind the rolling hills in the horizon.

"Come on. By the time we get there the sun will be set." Sapphire closed her camouflaged hangar bay.

"_There?_ Where's _there?"_ Blaster scratched his red and silver helmet in confusion.

"You'll see." Sapphire dropped to the ground on all fours and a split second later white fur grew out from all over her body. White paws replaced her hands and feet, and three dagger-like claws grew out of said paws. A sleek coal black, sword tipped tail formed along with an equally slender black, scythe-like horn extended over Sapphire's right eye. Sapphire shook out her elegant snow white fur like how a shaggy dog shakes its wet fur after a bath.

"Damn, I'll never get over how weird that feels." Sapphire turned around to face two astonished mechs. Fire red irises stared up into Jazz and Blaster's wide sky blue optics.

"Whoa…" Blaster knelt down and scratched Sapphire's head. She purred—as an Absol would.

"How didja do that?" Jazz slowly questioned as he too knelt down to Sapphire's white beast form.

"It's just a little trick I can do." Sapphire's voice amazingly didn't sound any different. She jumped up onto Blaster's shoulder right next to his audio.

"Kinda like how you guys can transform into cars and the like? I can transform into…well just about anything." Sapphire purred and rubbed her left cheek up on Blaster's audio. As Blaster and Jazz stood up, flustered, Sapphire leapt off onto the grassy ground below.

"Follow me and try to keep up." Sapphire bolted off towards the ever dissipating sunset. Jazz and Blaster were amazed at how speedy she was in this form. Jazz transformed into his Porsche alt. mode and Blaster transformed into his red stereo and flew into Jazz's passenger seat. Jazz kicked up a dust cloud in desperation to catch up to Sapphire before either of them lose track of her.

"Man, Sapphire and Blurr need to have a race sometime." Blaster commented as he started to play Going The Distance by Cake.

* * *

Jazz and Blaster after searching an infinitely extending grassy field for ten minutes, they found Sapphire sitting underneath a very old, dead maple tree. Sapphire sat on her hindquarters still in her beast form; stargazing. The full moon lit up the surrounding so Jazz refrained from using his headlights. Both mechs transformed and walked up to a (finally) stand still Absol.

"Dang Sapph! Try to wait for us next time!" Jazz placed both of his hands on his hips. Sapphire cocked her head over her left shoulder and smiled a toothy smile at the two.

"I told ya two to keep up."

"Primus, we didn't know that you're a speed demon like Blurr…" Blaster shook his head as he sat down to the left of Sapphire.

"Like who?" Sapphire tilted her head like a confused Ewok.

"Someone _we_ know." Jazz finished for Blaster. He plopped down beside Sapphire so that she was in between the laid back Autobot soldiers. "So, any reason _why_ ya dragged us out here?"

"Yeah, just so that you two can see this." Sapphire raised a paw and pointed up to the starry heavens. "The stars in the sky shine like no other when there is no civilization around you." Jazz and Blaster planted their optics on the twinkling diamonds. "Especially when there's a full moon to back them up." Jazz and Blaster admitted that the stars didn't sparkle with such beauty and captivation back at the Ark.

"Kinda reminds me of the nights back on Cybertron eh, Jazz?" Blaster leaned back and spread his arms out on the cool grass underneath his armor plates.

"Yeah, a little…" Jazz mimicked Blaster's posture.

"You guys sound a little homesick." Jazz and Blaster didn't answer. Sapphire chuckled and transformed back into her human form. "At least you know where you came from." Sapphire settled herself in between the two 'bots with her hands clasped behind her head.

"Say **what**?" Blaster raised an optic bridge as he sat halfway up.

"What do ya **mean** ya don't know where ya came from?" Jazz turned his head to speak to Sapphire.

"I don't know where I came from. It's as simple as that." Sapphire smiled. "As long as my friends don't judge me because of that, I could seriously care less. Just as I say, home's where you're surrounded by friends who'll stick with ya till the end...And speaking of friends, how the crap did you get over here so fast?"

"Jetfire." Blaster smugly said as he leaned back again. "We asked him if he could give us a lift."

"Idiots…" Sapphire laughed. "You would." Sapphire turned her head and smiled at Blaster. He grinned and winked back at her.

"He, don't be like that Sapph." Jazz poked her head. She swatted his hand away from her head and laughed again.

"Alright, that's enough Jazz." Sapphire smiled at the saboteur.

"HA! I told ya she likes me more Jazz!"

"Shut up Blaster." Sapphire placed her left index finger on Blaster's mouth.

"Now what were ya sayin' Blaster?" Jazz's trademark grin fell upon his face. Sapphire put her right index finger over Jazz's mouth and laughed.

"Both of you, stop harassing each other. Right now enjoy what Mother Nature is showing us." Sapphire nodded up to the pitch black night sky. A meteor shower had just begun, and white streaks from the burning rocks painted the sky white. Blaster and Jazz after all this time on Earth have never seen a meteor shower in its full glory. The two mechs were quickly captivated by the night time display. All three of them said nothing as they gazed at the unfathomable amounts of shooting stars dying in the night sky. Minutes turned to hours faster than the trio could anticipate. Sapphire was the first to notice.

"Once this is over I'll fly ya two back to your base. I'm sure someone's noticed that you're gone by now." Sapphire stretched her arms over her head.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Prowl's gonna chew our afts like how he did last time when we went to that Led Zeppelin concert with Spike's family." Blaster shivered as he recalled that dreadful day.

"Prowl's gonna kill me if I do somethin' without tellin' him again." Jazz put his left hand over his dimmed visor.

"Kinds how you two are right now?" Blaster and Jazz looked at each other and nervously laughed. Sapphire rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the cool grass that now encased her body print. "Come on ya two, time for ya guys to head on off." Sapphire shot up in the air while Jazz and Blaster reluctantly lifted their bipedal bodies up 'n off of the grassy field. Sapphire transformed in front of their blue optics again—only this time she transformed into a green, serpentine dragon with four horns on its head. The double helix design that tattooed its way down the creature's back was an aqua blue color instead of a bright yellow. The chest area of the beast was also curvy so that it could be distinguished as a "she-dragon." Aside from those minor details, Sapphire looked like an average Rayquaza—only bigger. The beast was a grand total of forty-five feet long. Sapphire lowered her tail so that Blaster and Jazz could climb on her back.

"Come on, let's go." Sapphire calmly said in a lowered voice. Jazz and Blaster scurried up Sapphire's back all the way to her head. Blaster sat in front of Jazz just behind her head.

"Alright Sapphire let's get this show on the road!" Blaster patted both sided of her muscular neck. Sapphire slowly lifted into the air and when they reached fifty feet above sea level, she took off due west towards the Ark: Autobot H.Q.

* * *

Two and a half hours passed when Sapphire along with her "passengers" finally reached the Ark. Sapphire was cruising five-hundred feet above the ground when she noticed two Lamborghinis driving side-by-side up the secret path leading to the Ark.

"Those two friends of yours?" Sapphire shouted over the whooshing of the wind passing underneath her smooth skin.

"Yeah, I think so!" Blaster cupped both hands around his optics for a better view. "Hey Jazz! Aren't those the twins?" Blaster turned around and pointed down at the speeding terrain below. Jazz leaned forward and used his sensitive visor to pick up the energy signatures racing on the winding path on Mt. St. Hillary.

"Yep, it's them alright." Jazz gave a thumbs up to Blaster.

"Who?"

"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. The only twins stationed here at the Ark."

"Well, let's go say hi to them!" Sapphire roared and sharply nosedived to meet the Twins. Jazz and Blaster were taken completely by surprise and were thrown into the air. Both mechs screamed as loud as their vocalizers would allow as they spun head-over-heel in the airspace near the Ark.

"Hold on guys!" Sapphire realized her mistake and nosed up slowing her speed enough for the two screaming Autobots to land back in their respective spots again. The two mechs were shaking violently in fear and they screamed at the top of their vocalizers.

"**DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!"** Jazz and Blaster screamed in unison.

"Sorry 'bout that! Next time I'll warn ya two!" Sapphire winced in pain as the two 'bots clung to dear life as Sapphire nosed dived at a much slower rate to the red and yellow Lamborghinis.

* * *

"Hey Sunny? Did you hear something?" The red Lamborghini called to the yellow sports car next to him.

"No, why?"

"Dunno. I just thought that I heard—**HOLY SLAG!!**" Sideswipe screamed as he skidded to a complete stop. Sunstreaker skidded as well all the while swearing at his brother for almost getting gravel shot at his new wax job he received earlier that day.

"Sideswipe! You glitch head what the hell was that for?!" Sunstreaker furiously asked his red counterpart. Sideswipe transformed and pointed straight up into the night sky with optics as big as saucers. "Primus! What the slag is that?" Sunstreaker exclaimed as he transformed and stood to the right of his terrified brother. What they saw was a very large, green dragon with a crazy blue hooped pattern running down the length of its entire spine.

"Wait a sec. is that—_Jazz?_ And _Blaster?"_ Sideswipe scratched the top of his black helmet in utter confusion.

"Yeah, I think you're right Sides but why are they riding that…thing?" Sunstreaker crossed his arms over his yellow chassis.

"Looks like we're gonna find out." The giant lizard monster descended slowly until a section of its body touched the rocky mountain pass where the Twins stood. It turned ever so slightly to reveal Jazz and Blaster gripping the monster's body with both their arms and legs. The Twins just gave their communications expert and their co-second-in-command a stupid look.

"You two can let _go_ now." The dragon said in an aggravated tone. Jazz and Blaster jumped off and started to kiss the ground on their hands and knees.

"Thank Primus! We're ALIVE!!" Blaster exclaimed as he threw both of his hands in the air.

"Thank Primus for wheels!!" Jazz wobbly stood up onto his feet using Blaster as a post to lift himself off the ground. Blaster did the same. "Screw the Seekers and their wings! They can **HAVE** them!!"

"What the frag?!" Sunstreaker's mouth hung agape and gave Jazz and Blaster a true "WTF" look. Sideswipe was rolling on the ground laughing his head off at the bizarre scene that unfolded before his optics. The dragon began to laugh and transformed into an eighteen year old human female with brown curly hair and half framed glasses. Sideswipe didn't believe in the human phrase "love at first sight" but when he laid his optics on Sapphire, he immediately changed his mind.

"Whoa…who—who are you?" Sideswipe asked in awe as he quickly scrambled to his feet.

"Name's Sapphire, you?" Sapphire crossed her arms proudly and grinned at the Lambo Twins.

"Uhh…I'm Sideswipe. This is my brother—"

"Sunstreaker." Sunstreaker glared at the female.

"Oh…a feisty one aren't ya, eh?" Sapphire rose up off the ground and became eye level with Sunstreaker. Sapphire still held a mischievous grin.

"You almost made my slaggin' brother mess up my new wax job!" Sunstreaker growled when Sapphire laughed at his excuse for his rage.

"You do know those can be easily fixed right?" Sunstreaker glare tightened its grasp on the human female.

"Aww, cool you jets big boy. How about this, I'll pay for your next wax job if I messed up this one. How about that?" Sunstreaker blinked.

"What?" All four mechs stupidly asked at once.

"You heard me, if I _did_ mess up your precious paint job I'll pay for it JUST this once. Deal?"

"Sweet Primus!" Sunstreaker jumped like Mario in pure happiness. "I wish more 'bots were like you Sapphire!" Sapphire covered her eyes and shook her head at Sunstreaker.

"Your bro is a nut job, just in case you haven't realized that." Sapphire told Sideswipe who was still staring at her in disbelief.

"Yeah, but he's _my_ nut job." Sunstreaker punched his smaller, red brother in the arm. "Ouch!" Sapphire ignored the "brotherly love" Sunstreaker oh so willingly gave Sideswipe.

"You two can stop on by tomorrow at around two-ish if you can." Sapphire twisted around and stated to an extremely confounded Jazz and Blaster.

"Sure thing babe!" Jazz smiled at Sapphire. She pulled out a red flip up com-link out of her left hand pocket and tossed it to Jazz.

"Use this to contact me if you two want to fly again." Sapphire winked at the two 'bots. Jazz and Blaster whimpered and shook their heads furiously back at her. Sapphire laughed at the scared-out-of-their-minds mechs.

"Well I gotta get back home now." Sapphire turned to face the Lambo Twins. "It was nice meeting ya two, but I can't hold this back any longer. I must say that you two have some very handsome alt. modes." Sideswipe infatuated, averted his gaze away from Sapphire down to the ground, and Sunstreaker smiled and puffed his chest out in approval.

"You damn well know it sister." Sunstreaker pointed at himself with his right thumb. Sapphire rolled her eyes at the extremely vain mech.

"And YOU two!" Sapphire pointed at Jazz and Blaster. "Don't get into too much trouble with Prowl!"

"I'm sure he'll forgive us…eventually." Blaster rubbed the back of his red helm.

"Whatever, see ya'll later!" With that Sapphire shot back to her secluded home as the mythological Griffin. The four mechs stared in awe at the impressive half eagle half lion animal as it screeched a "bye!" in mid air and flew off back to its "nest". The Autobots silently said, "Wow…" and watched the beast as far as they could.

"Dang…she's hot." Sideswipe absentmindedly said out loud to himself. Sunstreaker, Jazz, and Blaster all punched him—hard.

* * *

_The Next Day…_

"Do ya think she's home Jazz?" Blaster nervously asked from the passenger's seat.

"Yes, I DO think she's home, and STOP askin' me every FIVE slaggin' minutes." Jazz's tone very well suggested that he was fed up with Blaster's constant nagging.

"Whoa man, chill out. I didn't mean to sound like that…All I was wonderin' is if we didn't, ya know piss her off last night?" Blaster sounded like a kid who just got caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar.

"Now Sapphire ain't that type of gal who holds grudges."

"Man, I hope you're right Jazz."

"Yeah, me too buddy." Jazz accelerated up past seventy on his speedometer on the rural road leading up to Sapphire's secluded home.

Sapphire stood on the "hill" overlooking her tiny home and gazed off as far as her line of sight allowed. A gentle breeze from the west tossed her unusually loose curls behind her shoulders. The wind played a soft whistling tune as it blew on the overgrown grass surrounding her. Sapphire loved moments like this. Alone, on a gorgeous June midday with only Mother Nature as her only company. Sapphire smiled at the tranquil scene that unraveled right in front of her very eyes. Oh would she give to see—a dust cloud? Sapphire's moment of peace was abruptly interrupted by a white Porsche that kicked up a massive dust cloud in front of her face.

"Hey Sapph! Didja miss us?" Blaster called from inside of Jazz. Sapphire swatted at the large dust cloud in a vain attempt to rid it from clogging her lungs and pecking at her sight.

"For a moment there yes, but since you _graciously_ launched a dust cloud in my face—no I didn't." Sapphire flattened her tone. Jazz and Blaster just laughed as Jazz came to a stop just below the disguised hangar.

"Ya look—different today, but I can't put my finger on it…" Said the white Porsche.

"She's not wearing her glasses ya glitch head! Even _I_ noticed that and I'm sittin' here chillin' inside of ya!" The red and grey boom box angrily replied to his comrade. The corners of Sapphire's lips curled up in a very devilish smile.

"That's what she said." Sapphire bursted out laughing. Jazz and Blaster did not get the perverse meaning behind _that_ particular statement.

"Are ya callin' Blaster a femm Sapph?" Jazz confusingly asked a hysterical Sapphire. She blinked and roared with laughter, so much laughter that she fell on her back from it. She was clenching her abdomen while she laughed her head off.

"WHAT?!" Blaster screeched in unadulterated horror through his speakers. "Okay, what the slag is wrong with ya man!" Jazz himself began to laugh at Blaster's utter confusion.

"I'll tell ya two what _that_ statement means on the way ta town. Jazz? Would you be so kind as to—"

"Anything for ya Sapph!" Jazz opened up the drivers' side door for Sapphire, already one step ahead of her.

"Thanks Jazz. So sweet of ya to do this for me." Sapphire leapt off the grassy hangar onto the dirt "driveway" in front of it. The two story drop didn't faze Sapphire as she landed—with style in front of Jazz and Blaster.

"Going all ninja now are ya?" Blaster teased Sapphire.

"Oh yes, and did you know that ninja's are assassins—**silent** assassins Blaster?" Sapphire placed her left hand on Jazz's hood and the right on her hip, all the while giving Blaster an evil smile.

"Shutting up now."

"Good boy Blaster." Sapphire patted Jazz's hood.

"Even _I _know when to keep my trap shut buddy."

"Shut up."

"Alright you two, that's enough with the insults." Sapphire accused the two mechs as she climbed into Jazz. "Next stop is downtown Grand Rapids. Jazz?" Sapphire patted the steering wheel.

"Already on it sweet cheeks." Bad move, a _very _bad move on Jazz's part.

"Don't ever call me that again Jazzy boy." Sapphire sing-songed "Jazzy boy" in an extremely icy tone.

"Shutting up now…" Jazz's voice trailed off.

"_See? Doesn't it suck when she does this?" _Blaster said to the white Porsche through a secret com-link channel.

"_Yeah, and good thing she can't hear us either Blaster…"_

Sapphire raised a brow and grinned. "Who says I _can't_ hear you?" Jazz and Blaster both gulped.

* * *

Forty-five hell-hath-no-sympathy conceived minutes of torture (for the Autobots) later, Jazz, Blaster and their humanoid friend Sapphire found themselves cruising through the bustling streets of downtown Grand Rapids.

"Ah, there's a spot Jazz." Sapphire pointed to a gap in between two SUV's. "Let's see if you can parallel park Jazz."

"No sweat Sapph! Just watch me—ouch!" Jazz's bumper clipped the rear SUV's front bumper.

"Just watch you fail at parkin' successfully, that's what." The little red stereo in Jazz's passenger seat snickered. The seat belt holding the piece of equipment down tightened its hold. "Ouch!"

"Yeah, 'ouch' Blaster." Jazz defensively said to Blaster through his radio.

"While you two kill each other, I'll be inside for…eh, about twenty minutes or so." Sapphire rocked her hand back and forth for exaggeration. "Later!" With that Sapphire did not want to be caught in the middle of two alien robots fighting over something stupid. She dashed out of Jazz and trotted into the beauty salon a couple of stores down from Jazz's parked form.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Blaster's shouts could be heard as Sapphire walked in a place she would rather steer clear of.

"So much for listing to me…" Sapphire sighed to herself, and closed the glass door behind her.

* * *

"Really Jazz? You just _**had **_to throw me into traffic?" Blaster growled at Jazz in a flat voice.

"Sure did, but I must say I've never see a li'l boom box move that fast before." Jazz laughed.

"Yeah let's see how you like being run over by a Hummer and see how YOU like it." Blaster mumbled something under his breath to Jazz who continued on laughing.

"I'll keep that in mind—WOWZA! Sapphire is that _**you?**__" _Jazz balked as a straight haired girl with bangs walked up to the race car Porsche. The tips of her hair seemed as though they were dipped in a pitch black ink while the rest of her natural hair color was a deep red. Sapphire also changed into a leaf green long sleeve shirt with sapphire blue cuffs and flames that ran up her midsection. Sapphire also added a Hawaiian beaded, shark tooth necklace to her new look, and never put her glasses back on. Sapphire also changed into an old pair of black cargo shorts.

"Sure is Jazz and this is the _real_ me. This is **my **natural hair color **and **my hair is straight." Sapphire spun around showing off her new style to Jazz and Blaster. "What do ya two think?"

"You look downright amazing Sapphire!" The battered and badly scratched boom box whistled.

"You sure do look different Sapph, but it's _definitely_ for the best." Jazz honked his horn at Sapphire. People walking on by gave Sapphire a confused look and kept on walking by, just minding their own business.

"Guys! You're making me blush!" Sapphire crossed her arms and looked away from the two Autobot soldiers in disguise. "Now pipe down and let's get the hell outta here. I wanna show the others, plus I need to speak to Optimus Prime about something."

"Well hop on in Sapphire! I'll contact Skyfire and ask him to meet up with us if he can." Jazz this time opened up his passenger side door.

"If not then I'll just fly us back to—"

"NO!!" Jazz and Blaster shouted at Sapphire, causing her to step back in surprise.

"Okay, okay, geez guys, chill out." Sapphire waved her hands in front of her as a sign of submission as she entered the white Porsche. "Oh? What's this?" Sapphire carefully picked up Blaster and inspected the red and grey stereo. "Jazz!" Sapphire snapped at the steering wheel. "What did you do to poor Blaster?" Sapphire punched the dashboard.

"Yeouch! I did nothin' wrong here!"

"Slag you did _nothin'_ wrong here." Blaster snapped back at his counterpart. "This slag head threw me out in traffic and a big, yellow Hummer ran right over me…" Sapphire glared at the Porsche's dashboard.

"He started it! OUCH!" Sapphire punched the dash again.

"Well I don't care who started it, **I'M **ending it!" Sapphire yelled angrily back at both 'bots.

"Christ's sake, you two are about as bad as those Twins!" Sapphire buckled herself in with Blaster on her lap. "Now, let's see how badly you got banged up Blaster…" Sapphire's tone also dropped as she inspected Blaster's alt. mode for any injuries. Sapphire's hands began to faintly glow green as they passed over Blaster's body. Every scratch, dent and broken piece on the boom box that Sapphire found externally and internally was instantly fixed. A couple of minutes of hide-'n-seek with injuries, Blaster was up to par again.

"Wow, thanks a lot Sapphire. Didn't know you could do that…" The newly fixed stereo jumped up into Sapphire's arms. She hugged the little boom box and gave it a quick kiss on the right speaker.

"Anytime Blaster." A very infatuated Blaster unknowingly began to play Clocks by Coldplay.

"Ah-hem, what about me Sapph?" Jazz almost sounded like he was pleading for attention. Sapphire eyed Jazz's interior and noticed the fist imprints where she punched him—twice on the dash.

"Can't let Blaster have all the love now can ya Jazzy boy?"

"Damn straight." Jazz brusquely stated. Sapphire chuckled and healed the dents in Jazz's dashboard.

"There all happy now?" Sapphire set Blaster on the armrest in between the two front seats. Jazz's engine purred in a low tone.

"Are you forgetting somethin'?" Sapphire palmed her forehead and sighed.

"Okay…" Sapphire reluctantly said. She sprawled her arms on the dash in an awkward hug and gave it a quick smooch as well. Jazz revved his engine in approval.

"You're welcome Jazz. Now time for you to get up 'n go already."

"No problem Sapph." This time Jazz didn't rear end any SUV as he cautiously pulled out into the one way street. Jazz took off towards the country side that was about half an hour away. "Skyfire should be there by the time we reach the rendezvous point." Jazz simply stated as he began his quick trek through downtown again.

"Going all army talk now are we Jazz?" Sapphire winked at the steering wheel steering itself. All three beings laughed as Jazz sped off to their ride.

* * *

"Big red-'n-white jet dead ahead guys." Sapphire pointed at a tiny, almost invisible spec resting atop a flowered hill.

"Yup, that's good ol' Skyfire right there." Blaster commented as he finished scanning the distant object. Jazz put the pedal to the metal when Blaster confirmed Sapphire's initial sighting.

"Well, let's not make him wait any longer!" Jazz shouted over his mounting engine clamor as he amped up the speed.

Skyfire activated his engines once he saw a cloud of dust and gravel trailing behind Jazz like an elegant train to a fancy dress. "Only waited for five minutes _this_ time. I believe that is a new record." Skyfire chuckled to himself.

"Hey, Skyfire! How are ya feeling?!" Sapphire shouted and waved out of the passenger's window.

"Sapphire?" Skyfire questioned in his deep voice. "Wow, impressive. You have changed your looks drastically, and to answer your question: I feel as good as new!" Skyfire opened up his hatch leading into his cargo bay. "Come on in Jazz. I'll take us back to the Ark stat."

As Jazz rolled up the access ramp, Skyfire closed his bay doors. Once Jazz, Blaster, and Sapphire were inside, the two mechs transformed into their robot modes. Skyfire ignited his thrusters and soon the four beings were traveling at subsonic speeds back to the Ark.

"So tell me Skyfire, how _badly_ did these two delinquents get busted?" Jazz and Blaster flinched when Sapphire emphasized "badly".

"Prowl only gave them from two to five today to be on off duty, and after that—double shifts for a week." Blaster shifted uncomfortably while Jazz looked down to his feet and scratched the back of his black helm.

"Mind if I ask you a question my dear?" Skyfire softly spoke.

"Fire away Skyfire."

"Very well, I am wondering, why did you change your outward appearance?" Sapphire remained silent, pensive about choosing her words wisely as to answer Skyfire's question.

"How do I say this…" Sapphire slowly said. She rubbed her chin in contemplation. "I ended my career as an Intelligence officer for the States, so I decided to start over again. I end up reverting back to my true self and pick up where I left off in my life before I entered the Intel Agency. All I need to do now is collect my belongings back at H.Q. and sign over my post to some unlucky bastard." Sapphire explained as she ambled over to Skyfire's cockpit. "I just hope those idiots don't recognize my actions as that 'desertion to my country' crap. Reason two as why I changed my looks."

"Say what now? I'm not followin'…" Blaster scratched his head nervously.

"She means if people will go after her." Jazz spoke in a grave voice looking away from Sapphire.

"I say bring them on." Sapphire turned half-way to face Blaster and Jazz. "I was the best they had, so I'm certain that they'll wise up and leave me alone." The three mechs fell silent to absorb the partial truth about their human friend.

"Why would the government be after you Sapphire?" Skyfire quietly asked to break the wall of silence.

"To make sure I keep my mouth shut about—_sensitive_ matters. Hell, if I had my way I would've told the world what type of B.S. not just the U.S., but what the entire _world_ pulls.

Sapphire smirked. "Heh, what the reporters say on the new about the mysterious deaths and kidnappings? They're just a cover up for the general public. In the end the fed's kill those people so that they'll keep quiet about something they shouldn't have found out. But in my case, since I'm a former Black Ops. agent as well, they'll be up against more than just a simple civilian. They'll be up against a trained killer." Jazz and Blaster averted their gaze again to Skyfire's flooring.

"Sorry guys, but life isn't fair sometimes." Sapphire sat herself in one of the oversized seats made specifically for Transformers—not human sized passengers in Skyfire's cockpit area. The remainder of the trip was in silence, minus the rumble of Skyfire's thrusters propelling the behemoth Transformer through the midday sky back to the sanctity of the crippled spacecraft lodged in the side of Mt. St. Hillary.

* * *

"Now you're the Sapphire I remember." Ratchet smirked as he patted Sapphire on the back. She just grinned at the CMO.

"Different on the outside but same persona on the inside." Sapphire waved Ratchet off as she floated back beside Optimus Prime in the Ark's control room containing the Autobot's supercomputer Teletraan 1. All of the mechs stationed on Earth were all crowding around their newest acquaintance.

After a few startled expressions from the 'bots Sapphire first befriended, she ended up being introduced by Optimus Prime to the rest of his crew. Sapphire ended up meeting Beachcomber, Bluestreak, Brawn, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Gears, Huffer, Inferno, Perceptor, Red Alert, Smokescreen, Tracks, Trailbreaker, and Windcharger. When Optimus Prime finished introducing Sapphire to the aforementioned mechs Sapphire tipped off to all of the "new faces" as her "formal" greeting to the crew.

Sapphire noticed that most of the minibots quickly accepted her presence as a friendly one. The one named Red Alert seemed a bit…off, or to put it in Sapphire's terminology: "Twitchy little fellow." Most of the normal sized mechs smiled in approval except for Smokescreen, who seemed like he was studying Sapphire for any flaws or secrets she was hiding from the others.

"_Intriguing."_ Sapphire thought to herself as she realized a subtle detail. _"Each of 'em have their own little personalities…just like the humans."_

Prime dismissed his troops and they all dispersed from the room, except for a little yellow Volkswagen beetle mech. "Sapphire—isn't that right?" The little minibot stuttered as he walked on up to Sapphire.

"Sure is. What can I do for ya Bumblebee?" Sapphire cheerily replied to the low self-esteem 'bot.

"As I've been informed my Jazz, you haven't had the grand tour of the Ark yet right?"

"That is correct, and I assume you want to be the mech to lead me around your base?" Bumblebee scuffed his foot on the metal flooring in embarrassment.

"Umm, well, yeah…I guess I could do that." Bumblebee nervously replied with a tiny smile.

"Then lead the way li'l buddy." Sapphire passed her hand in front of her body as a gesture that said "after you", and Bumblebee led Sapphire through the Ark's hallways. The first stop was past the rec. room where chatter and laughter already occupied the air space surrounding it. Bumblebee kept on going and passed a few quarters for some of the occupants of the Ark. He explained to Sapphire how everyone had their own room except for Prowl and Bluestreak, Jazz and Blaster, and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

"No wonder why Jazz 'n Blaster are such a handful…they live with each other." Sapphire commented to herself when Bumblebee shared that bit of info. They both got a kick out of it and continued the tour. The tour took Sapphire through the ammunition area, recharge berths, and through the med bay (Sapphire didn't tell Bumblebee that she had already passed through the med bay). Ten minutes later, Bumblebee and Sapphire were back in a nearly vacated Control room. Optimus Prime, Prowl, Jazz, and Red Alert were crowded around Teletraan 1 discussing about the Decepticon incident in New York.

"Thanks for the tour Bumblebee, now if you'll excuse me I have to speak with your leader."

"Sure anytime Sapphire." Bumblebee saw Bluestreak waving at him in the hallway and instantly knew what he meant. "See ya later Sapphire!" Bumblebee waved her off as he ran up to Bluestreak. The two trudged off back to Bluestreak's quarters so that they could play another co-op mission on the PS2 version of OO7: Everything or Nothing.

Sapphire waited patiently in the entrance of the control room. She casually leaned up against the door frame of the entrance until Optimus Prime dismissed his troops. Sapphire smiled at the three mechs as they passed her to leave the room. Red Alert just gave Sapphire a weird look, Prowl gave her a brief smile, while Jazz grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"Optimus, may I have a word with you?" Sapphire approached the Autobot commander from behind.

"Yes, what is it Sapphire?"

"About the Decepticons I'm afraid." Sapphire frowned. "I fear that their exposure in New York was just a failed attempt at giving the Autobot's a bad reputation towards the public. But if my suspicions are correct, they are obviously plotting something far worse behind your backs. I'm sure you're well aware of my former career choice."

"Yes, I am aware that you are an ex-spy and an ex-Intelligence officer. Jazz informed me not too long ago."

"Precisely why I'm asking your permission to help you aid in your efforts as to help rid this planet of Decepticon terror. I believe that I'll be able to help you and your team on the battlefield and on the sidelines when necessary to fight against this ever increasing threat." Sapphire bowed in a professional manner.

"Very well Sapphire, you can officially call yourself an Autobot warrior from now on." Sapphire snapped up in confusion.

"Well, you can say that I tried to avoid that, but I guess I was fairly easy to read." Optimus chuckled at Sapphire's dry humor.

"No matter how you put it, you have already proven to me your skill on and off the battlefield. I am proud to have your assistance under my command." Optimus nodded in approval.

"Thank you sir." Sapphire saluted Optimus and floated up to Teletraan's control console for a more comfortable speaking position. "Now if you don't mind sir I'm going to catch up on my research on the 'cons and see if I can come up with anything."

"If you find a pattern or anything suspicious contact me at once."

"Yes sir."

"Oh and Sapphire? You don't have to call me 'sir'."

"Sorry s—I mean Optimus. I'm not very well versed to your preferences yet."

"In time you will learn. Now go and acquaint yourself with the other Autobots and tell them of the good news." Optimus dismissed Sapphire so that he could fulfill his duties. Sapphire nodded in agreement and flew out of the room. Sapphire could barely hide her excitement welling up inside of her. _"I gotta tell Ratchet first…that is, if I can find him."_ Sapphire thought to herself. Sapphire walked down the hallway leading to the med bay. While walking down to her friend's usual hangout, she ran face first into Mirage's leg while turning a corner.

"Oof!" Sapphire stumbled backwards more in surprise than in pain.

"Sapphire!" Mirage in a split second kneeled down to her height. "I'm so sorry, are you—"

"Oh shut up Mirage. It was an accident, plus I'm fine." Sapphire rubbed her forehead where she hit Mirage's blue colored leg.

"Are you sure?" Mirage's misty blue optics reflected regret back into Sapphire's calm ocean blue eyes.

"Yes, I am. Ratchet'll probably have a hissy fit once I see him." Mirage flinched in anticipation of Ratchet's infamous temper unleashing itself upon him.

"Speaking of Ratchet, do you know where he is?"

"I believe he was making his way over to Wheeljack's room to go and probably rip off his head or something." Sapphire smiled and looked up at the ceiling.

"Yup sounds like ol' 'Jack pissed him off." Mirage grinned at Sapphire and returned back to his original height. He opened his mouth but did not have the chance to speak. "In case you're wondering why I have to see him is because, well…I'm part of the Autobot team now."

"That's wonderful! I'm sure you'll be a huge help to our team. Congratulations Sapphire."

"Thanks Mirage." Sapphire was about to wave Mirage off when all of a sudden, the entire Ark shook violently as an explosion went off. Sapphire braced herself against the nearest wall while Mirage was forced to meet faceplate-to-faceplate with the floor of the orange-yellow Ark.

"What the hell was that?!" Sapphire pulled out her chrome plated blaster. "Is the Ark under attack?" Sapphire ran over to Mirage to help him up.

"I don't think so. I think that blast came from Wheeljack's lab." Mirage held the left side of his helm where it slightly cracked from the impact when he fell.

"Damn. Wheeljack is either crazy, or I'm George Bush. C'mon! Let's see how much damage Wheeljack created!" Sapphire grabbed Mirage's left arm and pulled him up to his sturdy legs. Mirage and Sapphire took off running to Wheeljack's possibly obliterated room.

Mirage and Sapphire weren't the only ones who decided to inspect the damage. Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ironhide, and Brawn were at the disaster zone. Disaster zone was putting it rather nicely. The door to Wheeljack's quarters was completely blown right out of its tracks and a nice big hole was created in half of Wheeljack's lab. The room was mostly covered in black soot from the explosion, and mangled paneling littered the floor.

"Holy Jesus and Mary 'n Joseph! What the hell happened in here!?" Sapphire ran both of her hands through her hair in utter shock. "Did Wheeljack explode or somethin'?!"

"That crazy idiot! I'm gonna have ta beat the slag out of him for doing this again!" Ironhide pounded his right fist into his left palm in furry. He walked into the mostly annihilated room up to a newly formed ledge. Suddenly, the strained paneling below his feet gave way and Ironhide fell looking at a very pissed one armed medic who was being held by a legless engineer on said ledge. Curses coming left and right from Ratchet and Ironhide as Ironhide managed to grab a hold of the remainder of Wheeljack's rag doll body.

The additional seven tons of Ironhide caused the panel Ratchet gripped with his life, snapped sending all three mechs down one-hundred and fifty feet. All three 'bots screamed in surprise as they plummeted to their rocky doom. Just when all hope seemed lost two lanky, green arms snagged all three screaming 'bots in the nick of time. Wheeljack looked up and saw the two yellow irises connected to a silhouette of a green dragon-like head. Wheeljack's optics widened and screamed like a little five year old girl.

"WHEELJACK!!" Ironhide bellowed and grabbed him by the neck and began to shake him. "You FRAGGER! Why'd ya go and blow half your lab up!?" Wheeljack grabbed Ironhide's arms in a vain attempt to stop his rampage. Ratchet all the while started cursing at the two mechs to vent his own anger. Sapphire roared right into all three mech's audio receptors.

"THAT'S **ENOUGH!!**" Sapphire's voice sounded more masculine than ever, but it still roared out of her throat with anger. Ironhide and Wheeljack grips upon each other fell and stared straight into a death glare. "All of you, especially YOU two are acting like bitchy teenagers! Now stop killing each other right now or I'll make sure that both of you are plastered into this volcano!" Sapphire bared her red teeth at the two former bickering mechs. They shrank in fear in Sapphire's arms. She growled as a warning to both mechs and shifted to Ratchet's direction and frowned at his injures despite the terrified look he was giving her.

His left arm was completely gone and energon and other lubricants drizzled out of his wound. Sparks occasionally sparked from his missing appendage. Most of his left side was blackened by the explosion itself, and the rest of his body was covered in God knows what. Ratchet also had a fairly decent sized piece of shrapnel lodged in his back right between his shoulders. Sapphire glanced at Wheeljack who obviously took the brunt of the explosion…or he was closer to it. Both of his grey colored legs were nothing more than damaged wires and leaking hoses. His left head fin was shattered and sparks flew out of the missing head fin like a sparkler on a 4th of July night. Almost the entire front side of Wheeljack's chassis was pure black and covered with cuts, scrapes and burnt paint—similar to Ratchet's scratched and dented body frame.

Sapphire checked over Ironhide too, but he was unharmed. She sighed and with a quick burst of Extremespeed, she snaked her way back into Wheeljack's room. Now all of the Autobots were present as Sapphire's upper body entered the remodeled room. A few of the Autobots gasped at the green dragon's appearance, and just to make sure that the beast was friendly, Red Alert, Smokescreen, Brawn and Tracks sub spaced their rifles and targeted Sapphire's head. She saw the hostile actions and lowered her skull to shield the three Autobot's she cradled if they decided to open fire.

Optimus Prime waved his hands in the air and shouted "Stand down! Stand down!" to prevent friendly fire from occurring. Reluctantly they subspaced their rifles. Sapphire released the three mechs, but handed Wheeljack to Ironhide. Wheeljack received glares from just about everyone.

"Care to explain Wheeljack what happened in here?" Optimus crossed his arms and raised an optic ridge. Wheeljack nervously laughed and looked at the ground in defeat.

"That glitch of an inventor decided to add fire to Sapphire's controller plasma core and it ended up blowing half of Wheeljack to the Pit, and my arm off." Ratchet explained for Wheeljack.

"Let's put it this way—Wheeljack has one oversized window now." Sapphire's snake-like body dangled out of the twenty-five foot wide hole. She crossed both of her thin arms on the still warm metal plating in the destroyed room. Wheeljack remained voiceless.

"Perceptor, come with me to the med bay and help me fix up this _brilliant_ 'bot here and me when you're done." Ratchet began to walk off.

"Correction: You're not fixing anyone up in that condition." Sapphire transformed back into her human form as scales folded back into skin, hair, and clothes. Ratchet looked back at Sapphire to protest but he was already being wrapped several times by incredibly thick, forest green vines. Sapphire also had Wheeljack in her grasp and lifted both mechs in the air, feet from where she stood.

"Perceptor, let's go before I decide to throw either of them out the 'door'." Sapphire levitated of the ground and dragged an unwilling medic, and an extremely embarrassed engineer down the hallway leading to the med bay. Perceptor ran past a few mechs to keep up with Sapphire shouting, "Coming my dear!" over Ratchet's profanity.

"What just happened?" Brawn stupidly asked out loud.

"I think ol' Sapphire just told Ratchet off." Jazz grinned as he watched Sapphire disappear behind a corner.

"Is that even allowed?" Windcharger turned to Optimus Prime, who was just as confused as the rest of the Autobots.

"I don't know Windcharger…I don't know." Optimus gazed outside of the gaping hole in Wheeljack's quarters.

* * *

Sapphire had some tinted black goggles on while she was busy welding Wheeljack's newly constructed legs. "I'll say this Wheeljack you're very good at blowing yourself up." Sapphire commented as she finished welding his right leg back into place. Wheeljack was sitting upright on one of the table's in the med bay.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that…" An oversized wrench hit Wheeljack square in the forehead. "OUCH!"

"Next time you ask me to come into your lab, I'd better be over energized from forty barrels of high grade!!" Ratchet walked on up to inspect Sapphire's work. Ratchet approved, and chased Wheeljack's aft out of his med bay. Perceptor decided that to stay around would more than likely cause more tension in the already stressful atmosphere of the med bay. So he high tailed it out of there when he had the opportunity.

"Well, don't I deserve a 'thank you for saving my aft for the umpteenth time' from you?" Sapphire put away her goggles and crossed her arms and patted her foot on the smooth surface of the table where Wheeljack once sat. Ratchet sighed, knowing how badly this would end.

"Thanks Sapphire for saving us." Ratchet put the last of his tools away. Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "And for helping Perceptor repair us…" Sapphire smirked as Ratchet frowned in defeat.

"That's more like it. Now…as to why I'm here today." Sapphire gained Ratchet's full attention. "Since I've quit my job as of yesterday, I've enlisted my skills to Optimus Prime to help figure out what the crap your Decepticon buddies are up to." Ratchet blinked in confusion.

"I'm part of the team now you idiot." Sapphire flatly said.

"Oh…I knew that…" Ratchet looked away in embarrassment.

"Riiigt…anyways if _you_ don't mind can I crash in your place until I find another place of my own closer to the Ark?" Sapphire smiled up at Ratchet in that "pretty please?" face. Ratchet smirked and walked up to a bare wall with a key pad on it. He keyed in a four digit code and the wall slid up to reveal a cozy two mech size room with a tiny desk and a computer linking up to Teletraan 1 sitting atop of said desk. A tinted glass cabinet with some sort of key pad on the front of it was really the only thing that caught her attention.

"It'd be my pleasure Sapphire." Ratchet welcomed in his new roommate. Sapphire hopped off the table and walked in. She felt like she was in the Kingdom Hearts game on the Alice in Wonderland stage. She was so tiny and the room was meant to accommodate mech sized beings. Sapphire turned and smiled at Ratchet.

"Thanks Ratchet." Sapphire turned away and rubbed her hands together like a crazy scientist. "Now…where to put the 360, PS2 and Wii…"

"Oh boy…" Ratchet began to wonder if this was going to be a good idea after all.

* * *

Author's Notes: Yeah..I haven't updated in over 5 months now, but I've been very busy with Marching Band, School, and life in general. BUT I will say this, I have as of now, written out 2 more chapters, and I'm working on the 3rd new chapter. :D

So, Please...just bear with me and my slow updating. =_=;;;;;;;;;;


	7. Chapter 7: Calm Before the Storm

****Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. They are owned by Hasbro. I just own the OC mentioned and the plot line****

Chapter 6

"Calm Before the Storm"

_2 Months later…_

Sapphire along with five of her clone, regenerative selves were unloading boxes of neatly packed of what little personal belongings into her new home next door to the Witwicky family. All six Sapphires' were unloading an assortment of tan boxes from the back of a black Toyota 4WD camper truck.

"Thanks for helping me carry my crap Trailbreaker. I really appreciate it." (The real) Sapphire patted the back door of the black camper.

"You're welcome Sapphire, and it wasn't a problem at all." The black Toyota happily replied.

"Hey! Mind if we help you out Sapphire?" Sparkplug Witwicky, a man in his early fifties with short brown hair with gray accents, and deep, brown colored eyes, stepped up next to (the real) Sapphire. He was accompanied by his son, Spike Witwicky. Spike was in his late twenties. He too had short cut, brown hair, and brown eyes. The other five Sapphire copies all simultaneously said, "Go right on ahead!"

* * *

About an hour later, all of Sapphire's belongings were unpacked and were now in their new positions in Sapphire's new home. Earlier that day, Sapphire, teleported her couches, tables, chairs, and the rest of her larger household appliances into her new five roomed house. Sapphire officially announced that she was now Oregon's problem from now on. Sapphire called back her clones and they all dispersed into thin air and were no longer "alive".

"How about coming over for dinner tonight, Neighbor?" Sparkplug placed his hand on the remaining Sapphire. "Think of it as a welcoming party."

"I'll call my friends Chip and Carly to come on over too. They've been dying to finally meet you." Spike smiled at Sapphire.

"Oh, all the stories I've heard about those two from the guys at the base…" Sapphire shook her head and tilted her head up to the blue sky above. What she saw made her do a double take.

"Hey, Dad look! A shooting star!" Spike pointed up into the sky. "Now isn't that something, you can even see it in the middle of the day."

"Heh, that's something you don't see every day." Sparkplug scratched his head in bewilderment.

"No… no you don't." Sapphire eerily whispered.

"Hey, what's up with you Sapphire?" Trailbreaker curiously asked.

"I'm sorry to say this, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to take a rain check on that dinner invitation." Her tone was incredibly flat and dark. She still followed the bright object flying over head with her eyes .The Witwicky's blinked at Sapphire's sudden u-turn in her attitude.

"Is there something wrong, Sapphire?" Sparkplug eyed Sapphire.

"Trailbreaker, we need to go to Optimus _now_." Sapphire completely ignored Sparkplug's question.

"Sure thing Sapphire. Climb on in." Trailbreaker sounded unsure about Sapphire's abrupt seriousness in a flying rock, but he will have plenty of time to ask her once they were back at the Ark. Sapphire hastily waved good-by to the Witwicky's and climbed into Trailbreaker's driver's seat. Trailbreaker kicked up some dirt and he was off.

"That doesn't sound good. After all these years we've spent with the Autobot's THAT was not a good sign at all." Spike rubbed his chin in thought. Sparkplug glanced at his son and then at the horizon where the ominous Mt. St. Hilary stood.

"Whatever that thing was in the sky, Sapphire is the only one that knows what it is." Sparkplug began to walk back into his home.

"Yeah, I just hope those Decepticreeps don't find out what that thing holds first." Spike gave Mt. St. Hilary another once over and followed his father.

* * *

"Boss, our cloaking device is up and running and the ship came in without so much as a scratch." The alien bounty hunter with pea green, squid-like tentacles that were hanging off his head like a beard and dreadlocks bluntly told his "boss" the condition of his "boss's" ship. He was sporting a full body, brown, armored suit with red accents—minus the helmet of course and black, commando style boots as well.

"Excellent. Sig, rally your men and prepare the sub. It's about time we finally end this chase once and for all." A lean, built, early thirties man with short, jet black hair and red colored bangs, was adorned in an all black outfit. A black long sleeve shirt and black pants; with a black button up trench coat with shoulders decorated in golden frayed shoulder covers, over said long sleeve shirt. Finally over the trench coat draped a scarlet sash that showed its wear and tear throughout the years. The sash ran across from his left shoulder all the way around his body and back to his left shoulder. Neco looked out of the main window of his starship, Stealth Mako. "The time has come. Now, all that remains between me and ultimate power is _her_, and once she's out of the picture I, Neco Ruodo, shall rule as the rightful king of Cresita and rule this pathetic universe." Neco clasped his hands behind his back and menacingly smiled at the window.

"What about this planet boss? It does have plentiful resources ready for the picking." Sig questioned. Neco waved a hand at him as a gesture of annoyance.

"It is of no use to me. The technology is primitive, and resources here are crude and are not in such quantities as Cresita, and this damned mud hole is _very _far away from Cresita to do any good to me anyways. I'll destroy it once I've destroyed my sister. She's decided to take refuge on this planet; I'll make sure she'll take it with her to the grave." Neco smirked impishly.

"Good point boss."

"That's why I'm the boss, Sig." Neco spun on his heel and his tattered scarlet sash rippled in Neco's sudden movement. "Now, go. I have a call to make to these, 'Decepticons'."

"Yes sir." Sig strode out of the communications room and headed to the docking bay. Neco stood in front of a five foot wide computer screen used for video transmissions. He sent out a signal to where these alleged "Decepticons" were taking refuge in submerged flagship, Nemesis. There was a snowy static view on the screen as Neco waited. The static did not stay for long. A few seconds later, the screen abruptly pixilated into a puzzled, but agitated silver, and dark gray Decepticon leader—Megatron.

"I demand to know who this is hailing on this frequency?! How the slag did you acquire this frequency in the first place?!" Megatron bellowed and shook his fist at Neco.

"My name is Neco, and I believe you and I have a common enemy at hand." Neco calmly and simply stated. Megatron raised an optic ridge and crossed his arms.

"Name your target, Neco." Megatron spat out Neco's name as if it were a curse.

"Designation: Sapphire Denver. I am here to eliminate her, _personally_. From what I have dug up, it seems you need some assistance to take her down. I am offering my assistance, my crew, and my power to you…" Neco left his sentence unfinished for the silver leader on the other side of the screen to finish for him.

"Megatron." Megatron smirked. Neco reciprocated an equally evil smile of his own.

"Until Sapphire is eliminated, I, and my crew are yours to command, Megatron…that is IF you can defeat me for that right."

"Crew? What crew?" Megatron inquired.

"My crew of hired bounty hunters. Only I warn you that they only obey me." Megatron glared at Neco for a brief moment.

"Very Well." The Decepticon leader huffed. "When shall I defeat your fleshy hide and assume command of you and your crew?" Megatron smiled. Neco did the same.

"Now."

* * *

Sapphire froze in her tracks as if she saw a ghost in one of the Ark's hallways leading to Optimus Prime's room with Trailbreaker at her side. She sensed a very powerful, but all too familiar energy surge through her heightened psychic sense. To her it felt like a sucker punch to the gut. She dropped on her right knee and began to shake slightly.

"Sapphire?!" Trailbreaker cried softly out to her. "What's wrong?!" Trailbreaker did not try to contain his fright through his vocalizer.

"H-He's h-here…" Sapphire ghostly said to herself. "He's here…shit, he's here and he's—" Sapphire looked into Trailbreaker's blue visor with an emotion she did not allow herself to show very often: fear. "He's with Megatron." Her pupils shrank ever so slightly.

"Who is?" Trailbreaker asked not fully understanding who "he" was. Sapphire punched the wall she braced herself against to stand up again on shaky legs.

"My brother, Neco Ruodo. He's here, and that is very _**bad**_."

* * *

Sapphire entered "Neco Ruodo" in Teletraan's infinitely expanding memory banks. What came up wasn't much, but it gruesome.

"Neco Ruodo: wanted mercenary with the death sentence on countless systems. He is wanted for equal amounts of genocides. Origin: unknown." The monotone male voice that came from Teletraan 1 stated as it located that spec of information while showing brief video recordings of Neco at his greatest moments slaughtering millions of beings.

"That may be all that Teletraan 1 knows, but I can fill in the gaps." Sapphire was leaning up against Teletraan 1 with her arms folded across her chest. She spoke in a don't-screw-with-me-unless-you-want-to-die tone. "He hails from the same planet as me, has just about every power that I posses, and to top it all off—he's my brother."

"And now your brother has allied himself with the Decepticons?" Hound crossed his arms as well.

"I'm afraid so. I sensed his energy signature at the same location as your friends beneath the sea."

"So if he can do what you can do…then—" Bumblebee pieced two and two together.

"That means I am the only one on this planet that can defeat him." Sapphire finished for him. She pinched her nose bridge and sighed. "But it won't be easy. I've heard from some 'distant' contacts that he's hired some new bounty hunter team as his own strike force. Then again, I don't think he'll make them do the grunt work like how Megatron's goons do. He's the kind that takes care of things himself."

"So if we should encounter him and you are not available what do you suggest we do?" Prowl rubbed his chin as he was coming up with the thousands of possible actions that should be taken if that time comes in his battle computer.

"You call me immediately and get the hell out of where you are. This being is far more powerful than any Decepticon, hell even an _**army**_ of Decepticons." Sapphire waved a finger at Prowl.

"That's uh, very blunt of you Sapphire." Sideswipe stupidly grinned as he blurted that out.

"Yeah, it is, but if you don't heed my suggestion you'll be dismembered—alive." Sapphire allowed her arms to fall to her sides and gave Sideswipe a grave look. He shut his trap for the rest of the meeting.

"So is Neco here for the conquest of Earth?" Brawn didn't hide his annoyance when he asked Sapphire.

"No. He's here for me. He probably could care less about Earth and its population or resources."

"Why? I mean, why is he here for you?" Bluestreak shyly asked. He rubbed his right arm in embarrassment because he had an idea why, but he did not want it to be the correct one.

"He's here to kill me." The control room fell silent. Sapphire let her vision drift from Autobot to Autobot. "Now we have two enemies, only one is far deadlier than the other, and I'm the only one who has a remote chance of defeating him. Fact is that we have to wait for him to appear. If any of you go after him on your own, you'll never come back." Sapphire looked away from all of the Autobot's. Her voice was filled with remorse, and fear. No one argued with Sapphire's logic, not even the logical Prowl or the battle happy Cliffjumper. Sapphire once more advised extreme caution from now on, and Optimus concluded the brief meeting by dismissing everyone except for Sapphire. Optimus may be the humble leader of the Autobot's but he is always there for any of his troops when they need him. Sapphire was no exception.

"Sapphire…" Optimus had his back to her. Sapphire did the same, but she was too focused on the stills of her brother on Teletraan's screen.

"I appreciate your concern Optimus, but I'm going to do this." Sapphire did not budge, neither did her tone.

"That's not what I was going to ask." Optimus turned to face Sapphire. She still remained facing Teletraan 1. "What I want to know is your reasoning behind your demands today."

"I just don't want any of you guys to get killed. Is that a crime now Optimus?" Sapphire faced Optimus with a neutral expression, but her eyes told another story. "I know what Neco is capable of, and I don't want the rest of the guys to underestimate him. I mean IF they come across him they will already be at a huge disadvantage, including yourself, Optimus. What they are up against is essentially another me who doesn't value life how I do now."

"Will you be able to?" Optimus sadly inquired.

"What?"

"Are you willing to kill your brother for our safety?" Sapphire fell silent and looked down to her feet. "Sapphire, I need to know if you are capable of carrying out this unfortunate task." Optimus walked up to and stood inches from Sapphire.

"My brother has killed billions upon billions of people and alien species alike. Justice will be delivered through me. That bastard will fall, one way or another." Sapphire's eyes showed no emotion at all when she looked up at Optimus.

"I'm sorry that it has come to this Sapphire." Optimus spoke in a grave tone.

"Then you know what will happen if I spare him?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm going to ask you this, if I do not succeed and I fall in battle against him,"

"Sapphire—" Optimus was taken aback from Sapphire's statement.

"Optimus, you know better than anyone that this is a possibility, but I promise you this on my life: No Autobot shall be touched by Neco. I **will not** allow it." Sapphire averted her gaze from Optimus'. "This upcoming battle is between Neco and _myself_. No matter what they see, the rest of your soldiers must refrain from getting themselves involved. Once they do its game over for them." Sapphire turned her head towards Optimus.

"Sapphire, I will honor your courage and determination and inform the rest of the Autobot's, especially Ironhide." Sapphire and Optimus allowed a brief chuckle to pass through the room.

"I promise to do my absolute best and come out alive, Optimus." Sapphire's expression mirrored that of Prowl's famous neutral game face and saluted Optimus Prime.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from any of my soldiers." Optimus smiled behind his facemask.

"Thank you Optimus. So…can I leave now?" Sapphire pointed to the exit of the control room.

"Yes you may." Optimus motioned Sapphire to leave, and so she did.

* * *

For just over two months the Autobot crew members have known a mysterious, but fiercely loyal Sapphire. The entire Autobot crew has to the best of their abilities, tried to make her feel at home in the Ark. Although she does have a home in Oregon next to the old friends of the Autobot's, the Witwicky's, she's been staying at the Ark as a security precaution for the safety of her brother's in arms.

"Hey, Wheeljack, have you seen Sapphire? I thought she was with you." The silver and red gunner inquired as he walked on in Wheeljack's fully repaired room. Wheeljack did not look up from his little project that he was working on.

"Wheeljack..?"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard ya. She's out back at the shooting range with Ironhide and Brawn." Wheeljack was usually full of energy when he spoke, but now he flatly spat those words in Bluestreak's audios.

"Oh…okay, thanks." Bluestreak knew better not to piss of an explosion loving engineer. He began to walk out the doorway when Wheeljack spoke in a much less hostile tone. Scratch that, he pleaded to Bluestreak.

"You have a knack of talking; can you at least try to talk Sapphire out of going on a suicide mission to stop her crazed brother and his bounty hunter posse?" Wheeljack stared at his deformed piece of scrap metal that he constructed out of anger. Wheeljack continued to stare aimlessly at his "creation" hoping that whatever Bluestreak would say to him could possibly lift his spirits out of the grave where they now resided.

"I'll do my best Wheeljack." Bluestreak looked down at the gray paneling under his feet, and walked away. He continued to walk until he heard a tiny crunching noise from Wheeljack's lab/room. He smiled and continued on his way.

* * *

"I must say Ironhide, this is an impressive piece of weaponry." Sapphire smirked as the barrel of the "sniper" laser rifle she held smoked. "Twenty cartridge magazine, minimum recoil, a powerful scope, an automatic silencer that doesn't mess with the trajectory of the laser, and best of all, the stopping power behind this baby." Sapphire reloaded a full magazine into the Transformer sized rifle and handed it back to Ironhide. Sapphire altered her form to become the same size as a normal Transformer. Ironhide smirked as well and placed his oldest rifle back in his storage case and locked it.

"It's been a while since I used this, felt great ta fire her again. She's taken down record amounts of Decepticons in her days." Ironhide reminisced his earlier years in the Autobot army.

"Hey Brawn, Ironhide, how does a little friendly competition sound?" Sapphire teleported a modified M1 Garand with two cartridges of ammunition to her side, and it could hold up to fifteen rounds per magazine instead of the normal eight. "This rifle may be old but I still love it."

"Isn't that one of those old-fashioned 'bullet rifles' you humans use?" Brawn subspaced his favorite blaster rifle and began to load it. "Bullets won't break our metallic targets, ya know." Sapphire just smiled.

"There's a reason why I love this rifle." Sapphire inserted a magazine and fired at one of the stationary targets that were about fifty yards out. A brilliant red laser exploded on contact with the spherical target, incinerating it and leaving behind a brief and dazzling display of red sparks where the target once stood.

"Enough proof for ya Brawn?" Sapphire placed her rifle on her right shoulder and contently smiled at Brawn.

"Eh, works for me." Brawn shrugged while trying to hide his enthusiasm.

"First one that reaches fifty hits first wins." Ironhide stated as he finished loading up his primary laser rifle and typed in a few commands on the computer that would release the targets.

"Moving or not?" Ironhide asked as his hand hovered over the touch screen for the computer.

"Moving." Brawn and Sapphire both eagerly said at the same time.

"Wait! Can I get in on this too?" Bluestreak huffed out as he ran from behind the trio. Brawn and Ironhide sighed, and both reluctantly subspaced their rifles away. Both were good shots, but no one could come to par with the young gunner.

"I quit already, I'm not about to lose any more dignity against dead-eye here." Brawn waved back at the others and began his five minute drive back to the Ark.

"I know when I'm beat, so it's just you 'n Blue now, Sapphire." Ironhide leaned up against one of the posts on one of the multiple shooting areas.

"Fair enough." Sapphire didn't look any less deterred by Bluestreak's obvious reputation.

"Only if I can say something first." Bluestreak feigned to be serious.

"Okay, what is it?" Sapphire placed the butt of her modified rifle on the barren ground and held the barrel in her hand (of course not OVER the barrel).

"Well, I mean, I've been talking to most of the guys recently and, well, some of them I just kinda overheard…" Bluestreak rubbed the back of his helm at a loss of a sturdy explanation.

"And..?" Sapphire pushed with her seemingly never ending patience.

"…We don't want you to go out and get killed by your brother."

"Bluestreak—" Ironhide was about to scold him when Bluestreak cut him off.

"Is it a crime to speak your mind now Ironhide?"

"Enough!" Sapphire snapped. The two mechs fell silent. "So what are prepared to do about it, Bluestreak?"

"If I win then you don't face your brother, we will."

"If I win then I'll still face my brother. If we tie, then nothing changes. Do we have a deal?" Sapphire held her rifle out like a sword.

"Deal" Bluestreak subspaced out a white photon rifle and tapped the nose of his barrel with the nose of Sapphire's M1 Garand.

"On your mark Ironhide." Sapphire calmly stated as she and Bluestreak both took their positions in the side-by-side shooting areas.

"Ready?" Ironhide walked on back to the computer. Bluestreak and Sapphire raised their rifles. "Shoot!" Ironhide pressed the start button and 100, two meter in diameter spheres with vivid red and white target patterns on them were released. They all moved in spastic and elongated patterns. Bluestreak opened fire first and a digital clock started to tick. Bright blue laser capsules disintegrated one by one the crack-happy targets.

Strange as it was, Sapphire didn't fire at first. She studied the assumed "random" patterns that the targets were taking. Bluestreak was at number seven within three seconds. Sapphire opened fire and within a second, she downed four targets. Now she switched into overdrive and about every three to four seconds she reloaded a new magazine. With each passing second, Sapphire destroyed more targets, catching up and coming close to surpassing Bluestreak's score. Laser fire littered the sky and neither missed a target. At thirteen seconds flat, Sapphire lowered her weapon and teleported her ammunition and M1 Garand back to an unknown location to where she stored them. The score board read fifty to forty-two. Sapphire: fifty and Bluestreak: forty-two. Ironhide's jaw dropped in disbelief. No one in the Ark could even come close to beating Bluestreak. Sapphire just set a new record—without even trying that hard.

Bluestreak stared wide-eyed at the score board. He gave it his all and he still failed. Bluestreak bowed his head and wasted no time subspacing his all white photon rifle away in grief. He fought to save Sapphire from a foreseen demise, he tried his best…

"Sometimes you think you know you're fighting for the right reason." Sapphire kept a straight face. "This challenge of yours was doomed from the start Bluestreak." She turned her head to her right to speak to the speechless gunner. "You fought to try to save me from facing my brother. An enemy that could very easily turn you all inside out with a single thought. Silently you were essentially killing all of your comrades." Bluestreak's gut wrenched into a knot and couldn't come up with any excuse to break Sapphire's harsh logic.

"That is something I will not stand for." Sapphire hissed between her teeth. "This is a battle I cannot afford to avoid for your sake; yours and everyone else on this _planet_." Sapphire's right arm morphed into a leaf green scythe that is associated with Scyther. Sapphire leapt in front and sliced the stand in front of Bluestreak right down the middle. He yelped and stumbled backwards in shock. His optics were immediately filled with fear when he glanced into Sapphire's snake slit eyes. Her blood red irises beamed with anger, focusing directly into Bluestreak's glazed over optics.

"I will not allow you or anyone else to get in my way of protecting yourselves and this planet ever again! Do you understand me?!" Sapphire ran up to Bluestreak and held out her scythe and pointed it at his chest compartment where his spark was racing like a race horse. He never expected her to react so violently to his request, so out of fear from being maimed by Sapphire he rapidly nodded his head in agreement.

Sapphire backed away and blinked. Her eyes returned to those radiant blue jewels that Bluestreak adored. Her arm too reverted back to normal, but her gaze again, remained neutral. "Remember that some conflicts are inevitable Bluestreak. That might save your life one day." Sapphire silently walked by the fallen gunner and then passed Ironhide down the path leading back to the Ark. Ironhide and Bluestreak were silent for a few minutes, both not really knowing what to say.

"Ironhide…what she said about saving us from ourselves, is that true?" Bluestreak sounded like he was on the verge of fainting as he stood up. Ironhide sighed and placed a hand on the terrified, young gunner.

"I'm afraid so. All Sapphire wants to do is protect us from an enemy we don't have any chance of beating. I know she kinda snapped at ya fer a sec, but she did that ta show ya how much she really wants us ta sit this fight out. The last thing she wants is fer us ta get involved in this suicidal death match. Sapphire is the only one that can stop Neco 'n there's nothin' that you or I could say that'll change her mind, nothin' will." Ironhide allowed that chunk of info to float awhile in Bluestreak's processor.

"All she wants…is our safety?" Bluestreak's optics begged for an answer he just couldn't understand yet.

"…Yeah…and she's willing ta die for any of us at the drop of a hat. Reminds ya of someone, right?"

"Optimus…he would know what to say!" Bluestreak blabbed out spontaneously.

"Bluestreak—have you been listin' ta me ya glitch!"

"Yes, I have but I can still try!" Bluestreak tried to run pass Ironhide back up the path leading to the Ark. Only Bluestreak didn't act fast enough. He met Ironhide's famous steel, vice grip. He grabbed a hold of Bluestreak's right arm and swung him around to face him.

"BLUESTREAK! THERE'S NOTHIN' YOU CAN DO! GET YER HEAD OUTTA YER AFT!" Birds flocked out of trees three miles away from the echo of Ironhide's voice.

"Ya can't change that girl's mind even if ya hold a gun to her head! Just drop it Blue!" Ironhide released Bluestreak's arm and the young gunner just stared at Ironhide. "Ya hear me now, boy?" Bluestreak's mortified gaze slowly drifted down to the rugged terrain underneath his metallic feet.

"Yes sir…" Bluestreak's voice was hardly a whisper.

* * *

Atop a vegetated hill stood a white, feral cat-like creature that overlooked the two mechs as they finally came to terms. Scarlet red irises pierced the air as she studied the aforementioned mechs. She sat quietly, and alone, wondering.

"Will they have control?" Angelic was her voice, but the content was full of conflict. The feline drifted off once more in her thought. Speaking to herself, she questioned her intentions.

"Absence of light. That is what I am. If I am without light, then why do I fight to protect those who shine with radiance? Envy? Desperation? Fear? Love? Redemption..?" The pure white beast bowed its head and a jewel twinkled in its hardened eyes. "Never again will I make a mistake that vast ever again. It is not I who will save them, but they are the ones who will be saving me—from myself." An unnerving chill ran up the beast's spine. This upcoming battle was inevitable, but at the same time it was also going to be a "make or break" moment. Either she would live or she will die. There will be no in between on this one.

"But if I win, will I truly still be alive?"

Leaves on the sparse maple trees were in full color of autumn. In front of the white cat was a branch from said trees. On that branch one leaf still struggled to hang on as the gentle breeze battered it back and forth. Eventually the leaf gave up and allowed itself to break away from the branch and to be carried away in the breeze and allow whatever fate the wind decided to give the leaf. To the Ark the breeze made the leaf go. The Absol silently disappeared with the lone leaf back to her fellow brothers in arms, the only beings that she could trust with her life. Beings that would gladly give their lives for her if needed as she will soon for them. The Autobot's were the only beings that she can really call family now. The one she would soon fight with every ounce of her being to protect. She's already had to suffer through the loss of one family long ago. She cannot afford to hold back; she had to win.

* * *

Author's notes: Hey all! *waves* I'm not dead! 8D Sorry for not updating sooner but this really was the only time I could type out the next chapter. I have another chapter written out, but it's a heck of a lot longer than this one, so I guess that's something to look forward to if you haven't left me yet..*twittles thumbs*

And if you are still reading this FF please, do me a favor and send me feedback. I'll appreciate that more than views (which I'm not too concerned about anyways).


	8. Chapter 8: Just For Fun

****Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. Transformers belong to Hasbro. I only own the OC mentioned in this story along with the plot line.****

Chapter 8

"Just For Fun"

In the days following her announcement of Neco's arrival and the not-so-certain actions Sapphire must take to defeat him, she closed everyone out and socialized with the Ark's crew only when they came up to her. Except for that exception, everyone gave her a wide berth. But a couple of Datsun brothers and a persistent yellow bug did not stick with the main stream.

October 11th was an unusually breezy fall morning. Rain was expected later on in the day. But today was a rather special day for Sapphire. Today marked off the third month since her resignation from H.Q. Although she is happier serving the Autobots than the United States Government, something subtle—like an unknown, or lost feeling, crawled all over inside of her that morning. Almost like Déjà Vu. Almost.

Sapphire sat cross-legged, levitating above a flat slab approximately fifty-feet east from the Ark's entrance. Meditating on the obvious upcoming subject, she took this seldom opportunity to practice her psychic techniques on four rock fragments that rested near the slab she hovered over. The four rocks started to orbit, slowly, in perfect unison. Then they began to undulate in a wave-like pattern forming what most would recognize as the nuclear power sign. The rocks began to pick up speed and swap orbital positions by spinning around her head like a table top. Up and down they went, barely missing her shoulders, their movements and speeds were erratic. All the rocks alternated between spinning on an axis, and tumbling in an out of control manner. All of the rocks were now moving independently from another.

"That's a nifty trick. You use it much?" The elder diversionary tactician mused. Smokescreen leaned his right shoulder on a bolder to the right of Sapphire that dotted the area. He watched her practice a concentration technique from a people she once visited long ago.

"Depends on the situation." She kept her eyes closed as the tiny rocks slowed their pace until they all became still. The rocks formed a perfect circle around Sapphire's head that shadowed the insignia of a cult symbol from the medieval era. Almost.

"It's not much use if all it can do is twirl tiny rocks in the air now, is it?" A playful smirk formed on Smokescreen's face plate.

"Don't jump to conclusions so swiftly, my friend." _Tha-ud. _All four fragments fell to the Earth in unison. "My powers are a very useful tool. They are not to be neglected. You should not underestimate anyone solely by appearances; you should know that more than anyone, Smokescreen." Sapphire uttered in an unnatural voice.

"Hmph," Smokescreen's smirk grew. "These _'powers'_ of yours sound nothing more than—what the slag?" Smokescreen barked as he was picked up by an "invisible hand" from his right heel and flipped upside down in the air. He flailed about, and cursed at Sapphire. She mentally brought the patriotic colored mech in front of her. She did not move a muscle.

"Alright, alright! I get your point! Now put me down!" Smokescreen shook an upside down fist as Sapphire.

"As you wish…" Sapphire trailed off nonchalantly. With precision that comes with practice, Smokescreen was flipped right side up and back onto his two feet.

"Is is really necessary to take things so seriously? You act like Prowl sometimes." Smokescreen folded his arms discrepantly across his chest.

"You wanna prove to me how far you can fly over a forest?" Sapphire opened her left eye and peered at the patriotic Datsun.

"No need for violence." Smokescreen raised both hands up in defeat.

"So, is there any particular reason why You, Prowl, and Bumblebee, ventured out here to pester me so early in the morning?" She opened both eyes and gazed blankly ahead. Smokescreen blinked. He sighed and clasped both hands behind his back and sifted through his processor for a plan "B".

"Well?" Sapphire showed no emotion as she unfolded her legs in midair and stood tall, still addressing Smokescreen for an answer he obviously did not have.

"We should answer for ourselves." Prowl stated as he, and Bumblebee stepped out from the silhouette of the forest line ten-feet behind Sapphire and Smokescreen.

"We just wanted to talk this through one last time." Smokescreen gravely added as he kept his hands behind his back and bowed his head slightly. The three mechs formed a semi-circle around Sapphire.

"For your safety, Smokescreen, Trailbreaker and I have—" Prowl's negotiation was cut short.

"For **my** safety?" Sapphire pointed at her chest and gave Prowl a disgusted look. "Just when _'big bad brother'_ strolls on in, things suddenly _change?"_ Her temper flared,"Listen, and listen well young ones, no one, not even the highest authority out there is going to make me change my mind. No more pleas, no more logic, and definitely **no** more arguments about this subject." Her eyes blazed with an animalistic rage. She stepped backwards and beckoned four, ten-foot tall boulders to enclose her in a six-foot-by-six-foot box. Sapphire extended out both of her arms, horizontally, and smashed both palms together with a clap that was overtaken by the two in front of her as they mimicked her hand gesture. The two boulders seemed as if they were launched at each other and they exploded with ferocity. They became nothing more than little bite sized fragments of the ten-footers they used to be. Said fragments flew every which way and the three mechs were forced to shield their vulnerable optics with their forearms.

"There's only one person who can stop Neco." Sapphire fiercely growled at the three Autobots as she crouched down. She grunted and sprang up in the air high above the Autobots' heads, performing a wide angled back flip. In mid-air, a metallic coated handle, that had charcoal tape where the "grip" was, slipped out of her cloaked belt clip, and landed neatly in her right palm. An eerie, silver blade of light cut three-feet through the air. Six, ivory white spikes protruded from the end where the blade rose up. She was just feet above the two remaining, worn down rocks when she swung down in a counterclockwise, elliptical motion. She landed with her left hand down on the rugged terrain and both legs prone to absorb the shock of her fall. At the same time her right arm extended away from her body—lightsaber humming a low pitch: The sound of death.

"It's me." Both remaining boulders fell apart in two uneven halves as Sapphire slowly stood up. Her scarlet eyes were fixated on all three mechs as was their own, amazed cerulean optics, on her.

Sapphire aimed her silver lightsaber at the Autobots. Her uncanny eyes remained on the mechs. "This is a fight between me and my brother, and I'll make **sure** that it shall remain that way," Sapphire's voice dropped its pitch that resembled something that one would recognize as to be born from the depths of Hell, itself.

"Is that a threat Sapphire?" Prowl inquisitively challenged. Sapphire teleported inches from Prowl's face and brought her lightsaber's pale, silver blade up to his neck. The intense heat from her sacred weapon scratched away at his neck and the underside of his chin.

"It's a guarantee Prowl." Sapphire growled in Prowl's face. She brought her head beside his left audio and snarled quietly into it. "Now go, before I change my mind and decide to carry out that _'promise'_ sooner, rather than later." Smokescreen was the first to retreat back to the confines of the Ark, but not without sending her a stern look; a look that showed…disappointment. Prowl flattened his mouth and stood there. He listened to the hum of this new instrument of war and tolerated the intense burning sensation that seared his neck and underside of his chin.

"We are willing to help you, Sapphire." Prowl whispered as he stepped back to escape the heat of two separate objects.

"I didn't ask for any help, Prowl." Sapphire retorted.

"What you are doing is suicide."

"What I am doing is my duty."

"What _duty?"_

"My duty to myself and as an Autobot warrior: To protect those who need it," Sapphire snapped, "What I am doing is protecting all of you from a fate I would not wish upon anyone else but myself." Sapphire recalled her weapon and returned it back underneath its protective invisibility cloak.

"Sapphire—"Prowl started, and yet again, was cut off.

"Shut up and listen, Prowl. This is something I _must_ do. I can't avoid this battle and you **all** know it. So stop with the damn theatrics and let me handle this!" Sapphire snarled as she returned to Prowl's face. Prowl drew his right foot back in shock. For once in a blue moon, he showed it on his face plates. Both beings just looked at one another until Sapphire blinked; her eyes were blue again. She jerked her head back and turned it ever-so-slightly to the right in regret. "Please Prowl," Sapphire pleaded as she still did not face him, "For you safety and for your lives, let me do this." Prowl was at a loss of words.

"Just promise to come back." Bumblebee, who stayed behind, sadly remarked with his big, blue optics as he spoke. Sapphire and Prowl turned to the yellow scout. She floated down to his optic level and sympathetically lifted his chin with her right hand. A sad smile crossed her face.

"I'll try."

* * *

Inside the immersed Nemesis, Neco's SIC Bounty Hunter, Sig, was having doubts of his "leaders" intentions. The two were ambling down an empty corridor discussing the aforementioned doubts.

"I don't know boss, this 'Megatron' guy seems to be all hot air. He may be powerful, but he's not the type I'd want to make any regretful deals with. He's nothing but scum in a tin body." Sig retorted in a raspy voice.

"If you recall you, you're crew, and I, are all scum, Sig." Neco smirked at his mollusk-faced right hand man. "But I believe our 'negotiations' have enlightened our new _comrade_ and _crew_ to believe they do _not_ have the upper hand."

"True." Sig's black eye orbits narrowed. "I would say _'harsh negotiations'_ would have been more appropriate, boss." Sig gazed evilly at his stained, clawed hands. He disliked the ungainly color upon his forest green skin and ran his hand across the nearest wall—leaving a strange mix of a neon bluish-pink color. The substance slowly streaked down the wall like blood from a fresh kill. The room where Neco and Sig 'negotiated' with the Decepticons was covered floor to ceiling with the fluorescent substance. The neon mixture splattered across the limp bodies that were scattered in awkward positions throughout the command center of the Nemesis. The "negotiations" had been far from "smooth". Frayed wires, shredded metal strips, and Cybertronian body components littered the floor in the command center. All the wings of the three Seekers were torn off like sheets of paper from a notebook. Mangled limbs were twitching and sparking every now and then. The luminescent energon pooled at every gash, tear, and severed body part from the Decepticon forces on Earth. Included in the battle zone with the Seekers were Soundwave, and his mini-army of cassettes, the Constructicons, and finally, the pitiful, and hapless form of their mighty leader—Megatron.

Both of his legs were deemed useless because his left leg was torn off just below the knee, while his right leg had multiple blaster wounds in the knee. Spider web cracks were visible from the wall where his battered frame propped up against. Tearing into his lustrous armor, down from his left shoulder to his right hip plate, was a five-fingered clawed wound. His fusion cannon was again, not functional not by blaster fire, but by a pair of powerful jaws—ones that would be consistent with that of a wolf. The Decepticon leader was also boasting a cracked left optic and a blaster scorch mark on his right cheek. Physically speaking, Megatron was _lucky_ compared to the rest of his warriors. Emotionally, he felt as if he were brutally crushed and tossed aside like a wad of paper.

A mere two beings, _organic beings_, defeated him _and_ a majority of his forces on Earth.

When Neco and Sig struck the Decepticons present in the room, the Decepticons were nothing more than caged animals, clawing at the walls to break free in order to have a chance to live another day. Humility, defeat, and helplessness were feelings the semi-conscious leader rarely felt. But Megatron also felt hate, rage, and revenge; these feelings he was very well acquainted with. But at this particular moment, he knew that if he used the later emotions, he'd end up killing not only himself but the rest of his crew. He is bold, but he is not foolish.

As his optics sputtered online, he reluctantly decided that for the first time in many, _many_ cycles, he had been beaten into submission. He numbingly repeated out loud in his crippled state, "She'd better be worth all this energon…"

* * *

Sapphire, during the last few weeks of October, still did not want to wear a jacket, but Mother Nature was sure as hell trying. Forty-degrees, cold, windy, overcast, and it rained earlier that day. What else would you expect a West Coast state to be like?

Sapphire, Bluestreak, Bumblebee, Hound, and Wheeljack were resting in a fairly large clearing in the Oregon Forest that spanned across quite a few square miles in western Oregon. The mechs were too busy mingling with one another to notice Sapphire wander off from the group a little ways, gazing at a sheer cliff in the distance. She froze, fixated on said cliff when she encountered something _unnatural_.

On the cliff stood, a triple jointed, bipedal monster. The beast was black as night with silver, satin coated armor pieces on its shoulders, elbows, knees, chest, back, and the ridge of its tail. It possessed four-fingered hands with silver tipped claws that gleamed in the moonlit night. A powerful neck supported an even more impressive dragon-like skull. The set of ivory white, serrated, warped teeth shined menacingly. It waited for its next meal to submit itself to the beast—Sapphire. The monster's teeth were aching to rip the very flesh from her bones. The beast had triangulated, bony, eye guards and a pair of hooked ivory white horns that reflected the moon's rays. The halo of moonlight reflected off its horns gave the webbed jaws of this deadened creature's face a morbid appearance. The sickly monster fell to all fours and unleashed a frenzied roar that shook Sapphire to her soul. The black being that almost blended with the night sky, unfolded its severely scarred wings. Reddish-black flesh dangled off each boney joint on the seven pronged pair of wings. At the tips of each fleshy knob, blood stained thorns pierced through the endings. The monster continued its demonic cry. This _thing,_ with its fleshy wings, and heavily armored body, this _monstrosity_, had to have been conceived from Hell. The powerful, spiked tail that snaked through the air split the side of the cliff with its delicately crafted, silver colored axe-like tip. The mighty beast continued to roar; all the while its glowing red eyes locked on and ate at Sapphire's soul, threatening to consume it. Blood red eyes were eating her soul. _**ROAR.**_

"Sapphire?" Hound softly asked.

Sapphire blinked and came back to reality. The sun was hidden behind the mass of the low hanging, dull gray clouds. The wind blew lightly across her flushed cheeks. The dreary fall day finally chilled her bones as another shiver ran up her spine. The beast was gone.

"You alright? You're just kinda frozen to the spot." Hound came up and stood behind her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I just saw something…strange." Sapphire still fixated her frightened gaze on the cliff.

"You can blame the forest for seeing weird things. Trust me, you'll get used to it."

"_If only you knew Hound..._"Sapphire gravely thought to herself. "Yeah, I guess."

"Hey, Sapphire," Wheeljack steeped up to the right of Hound. "I was wondering if I could test out the shrink ray I fixed and upgraded for Perceptor. We're out in the middle of nowhere, and if this goes smooth, Perceptor will be able to shrink down objects down to the size of electrons. I can see his face now…" Wheeljack trailed off, in a daydream about Perceptor's predictable reaction.

"If I may, Wheeljack, your track record with 'smooth' experiments isn't very high." Sapphire turned around and smirked at him.

"Flattering, to say the least," Wheeljack waved off the insult, "So, I take it that's a _'yes'?"_ Sapphire sighed as Wheeljack's head fins perked up in excitement.

"Just make it quick. Remember we have to be back at the Ark in about two hours. That does not give us a lot of time left. Ten minutes. That's all you have." Sapphire leapt up in the air, performing a perfectly executed back flip and landing on Hound's right shoulder. "Consider this an extended five minute break."

"That's plenty of time for me!" Wheeljack commented as he gleefully subspaced a satellite dish-like device that looked similar to the immobilizer; he placed it on the ground approximately twenty-feet in front of a ten-foot tall mossy boulder.

"Bumblebee, Bluestreak, Hound, keep your guard up for any 'unwanted' guests." Sapphire quietly asked the three as she placed a hand on her side holster she clipped on before she and the four mechs embarked on the patrol. "Something doesn't feel right, and no, it's not 'Jack."

"My sensors say the area's all clear." Hound confirmed in a hushed voice.

"My gut says otherwise." Sapphire averted her gaze and scanned the canopy of the tree line surrounding the small group. Hound knew from Optimus, a gut instinct was usually never wrong.

"Alright, now cross your fingers guys." Wheeljack cheerfully stated as his invention revved up to full power. Wheeljack held a tiny remote control with a dial on it.

"Wheeljack! Move it!" Sapphire shouted as she sprang from Hound's shoulder and transformed mid air into an elegant, cream colored fox with nine flowing tails. The fox stood from ground-to-shoulder, eight-feet tall. Wheeljack quickly turned his attention back at Sapphire's now round, bolded, black eyes. At the same time he accidentally turned the knob all the way to the "max" side. She pushed him off to the side and snarled at the invisible adversary.

Laser fire ripped through the air and struck the ground just in front of Wheeljack's shrink ray. The force of the explosion from the lasers tipped his invention backwards, sending its ringed, amber colored rays at Sapphire. The rays struck her—but nothing happened.

Sapphire did not have time to worry about the effects caused by Wheeljack's invention. She breathed out impressive swirls of fire at the group of four bounty hunters hired by her brother.

They all wore black jet packs and carried heavy duty, coal black blaster rifles that, if not, surpassed those of Cybertronian blasters. The alien bounty hunters wore black, satin colored, full body armor and boots with scarlet red accents. On each shoulder were frosted, silver shoulder guards with miniature scarlet spikes protruding from the rims of said guards. The same design was on the kneecaps, but on top of them were three-inch long silver spikes. To match their armor, each hunter had a utility belt that ran from their left shoulder to their right hip and were chocked full of various ammunitions, explosives, and other useful tools a bounty hunter would utilize in downing their targets. Underneath their jet packs were their holsters for their blaster rifles. On their thighs and hips were various hand blasters, and custom made combat knives.

All four bounty hunters were apparently from the same species because they all resembled a hat less Davy Jones (From _The Pirates'_ Movies). The tallest, forest green, tentacle-faced alien was around six-and-a-half feet tall. He had a four-clawed scar that cut down his entire right side of his face. The second largest was six-feet-and-three-inches tall and had black tipped tentacles. He also sported a _permanent_ eye patch on his left eye. The other two, were roughly six-feet tall with darker colored skin and had no abrasions or scars on dark green faces, but they were missing a few ends on some of their black tipped, appendages moving freely on their chins and heads as if the tentacles were a living forest.

The vicious fire attacks coming from Sapphire caused the bounty hunters to scatter. Sapphire used this small window of opportunity to mentally signal the four mechs firing upon the hunters to take cover in the forest. Hound and Wheeljack paired up and transformed in their terrestrial guises and raced south, weaving about the tree trunks deeper within the forests. Bumblebee followed closely behind the two larger mechs, Bluestreak on the other hand wanted to get a few more shots off at the hunters. The hunter with the eye patch fired, with a sadistic grin, at Bluestreak.

Bluestreak tried to jump out of the way, but his right leg caught the brunt of the blast. The explosion shredded his leg into ribbons up to his mid thigh. He cried out in pain just as Sapphire ran past Bluestreak. She skidded to a stop, mortified, and out of retribution, arched her back and a feral roar passed through her throat. Bluestreak clung onto Sapphire's fur and pulled himself up onto her back. Sapphire managed Bluestreak's weight without so much as flinching. The hovering hunters roared with laughter.

"Looks like the fox is pissed off. What should we do now, Jorrjé?" Boasted Mirocco, the "eye patched" alien to the largest hunter.

"Finish the job, by killing it." A toothy grin passed over Jorrjé's mouth.

"With pleasure, Boss." The youngest hunter, Jacque happily replied to Jorrjé's command.

"I call dibs on the robot!" Screeched Schudo—the brother of Jacque. Schudo had one black tentacle on his "beard".

The four, armored bounty hunters raised their weapons at Sapphire. It was her golden opportunity. She extended all nine of her caramel dipped tails and a red aura glowed from her now, slit eyes. The four hunters paused and then began to shoot wildly at everyone and they seemed to all at once lose control of their jet packs. They all acted…confused. Sapphire used this chance to bolt into the forest after the three mechs—away from the Ark. Her confuse ray will only buy her about a solid hour start (if she was lucky), but once the four, oceanic hunters snapped out of their confused state, the _real _hunt would begin.

* * *

"_Run. Just keep running. Put more distance between them and your comrades. Don't let them become involved. Not yet. They're not ready…"_ Sapphire consciously kept on repeating to herself. _"Run you idiot!"_

"Sapphire, please stop! Your leg!" Bluestreak blurted out in anguish. He still clung helplessly onto Sapphire's furry mane as she weaved recklessly between the trunks of the pine trees in the coniferous forest she was currently lost in.

"Sapphire! PLEASE! JUST STOP!" Bluestreak cried out stronger this time.

"I'll stop when I can't **run** anymore!" Sapphire grunted between her teeth. The pain from her leg kept driving her; it was compelling her to keep moving. She was running, zigzagging, backtracking, and now more than ever, she was sprinting through rivers, and creeks, all in the name of hiding her scent.

She did not realize how far or how hastily she ran until her injured right thigh could not take any more stress and gave out. She stifled a vexed cry as she staggered, and tried to recover and keep on moving. But her wounded leg refused to work. Her momentum caused her to trip up on her own feet and come to a stop sliding on her left side through mud and foliage on the forest floor.

Bluestreak desperately tried to steady himself from being flung off from Sapphire's back, but his anguished efforts were not enough. He was tossed off her back, roughly, into the fern, and moss covered forest floor. He skidded ahead of Sapphire's exhausted body. As he pushed himself off from the ground with his arms, he glanced over his shoulder to examine Sapphire. He wanted to make sure she was alright.

Bluestreak dragged his crippled body through the mud soaked ground up to Sapphire's worn out body. He cringed at what he saw. He clearly saw two burnt holes in her blood soaked, right thigh. Although his sensors said that her leg had ceased to bleed, he did not want to take any chances.

"Sapphire? Are you alright?" Bluestreak groaned out of his own injuries.

"If I was, would I be lying here on the ground like some pathetic animal waiting for the slaughter?" Sapphire bitterly spat back.

"Sapphire! Don't talk like that! You have to get up!" Bluestreak lowered his voice to a whisper. "Please, don't…don't give up. Not now." Bluestreak managed to drag himself up to her head that rested on a clump of upturned moss. He placed his right hand on her muscular neck and slowly began to stroke it. Sapphire sighed and pushed herself off the mucky ground that rarely saw any sunlight. She growled, "Give up? _Give up_ after I've been shot a few times in the leg? You're out of your mind, Bluestreak. I will **never** give up. I promised Bumblebee that I will make it back. This little set back won't stop me, especially since I have to get you out of here. Get on." Sapphire limped a little bit but she managed to regain her stance. "On your feet, Bluestreak. If I can then you can too." She used her head to help a virtually one legged gunner up. Bluestreak could not put any weight on his mangled appendage, but he managed to climb back onto her back. She still limped but she could move, and that was all she cared about. Sapphire limped through the increasingly thickening forest. Once she came upon an opening she rested for a little bit. Her heightened senses were telling her the others were close by.

"Bluestreak, can you contact anyone else to see if they're nearby?"

"No need to." Three shadows appeared from behind the enormous pine trees that surrounded the five figures. The voice came from an all too familiar bipedal, green jeep.

"Hound…" Sapphire breathed out in relief. "Are you all alright?"

"Yes, we all are, but it seems that you two are not." Hound crouched down to grab Bluestreak from Sapphire's weakened back. He hefted him over his shoulder and placed him gently on the ground, propped up against a flat rock. Wheeljack bent down to inspect Sapphire's leg injury. He frowned behind his face mask.

"Looks like they both went clean through. Ratchet's gonna flip when he sees you." Wheeljack shook his head at that thought.

"Trust me when I say this, I've been through worse." Sapphire grunted as she tried to put weight on her injured leg. "Can anyone contact the Ark? Bluestreak's not going to make it back there on foot…er vehicle mode."

"No such luck. Seems that your calamari friends have jamming equipment on them, and they're not afraid to use them. We're stuck out here until we either are missing for too long, or we figure out a way to bypass their signals." Hound mournfully stated as he once again tried to send out a distress signal to the Ark. "And to top it all off, I've also detected a low pressure system coming up fast from the west."

"So in layman's terms, it's gonna rain like none other soon?" Sapphire groaned as she lifted her head up to smell the air.

"Yes, it's going to rain…again."

"Great. Wheeljack, Hound, go on ahead and see if you can outrun those sea-born, bounty hunters' signals. If you do, contact the Ark and give them the co-ordinates to where we are now. I'll stay behind with Bluestreak and Bumblebee." Sapphire spat out a chunk of mud from her mouth.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Sapphire? I mean what'll happen when those hunters find us and Hound and Wheeljack aren't here?" Bumblebee suggested with a flash of fear in his voice.

"Then you and I will fight them and if Bluestreak can pick up a gun, then he'll help us too." Sapphire bluntly stated to Bumblebee. She turned her head to the two larger mechs. "You two better get a move on, the sooner the better for Bluestreak's sake. He's losing a lot of fluid." Sapphire eyed the gunner who was struggling to stay conscious.

"Right. I'll patch him up as best as I can and I'll catch up with you, Hound." Wheeljack subspaced a little welding torch and patched up a few of the loose pipes that were _bleeding_ energon. Hound nodded, transformed, and sped off into the forest. A few minutes later, Wheeljack went after him.

That only left a semi-conscious gunner, a yellow scout, and a wounded, mech-sized fox on their own for God/Primus knows for how long.

Sapphire limped over to Bluestreak's side and sat on her hind legs next to him. She winced a little at first, but became accustomed to the stabbing pain in her right thigh when she sat. "Hey, how are you holding up?" She asked the weak gunner.

"Tired…just tired..." Bluestreak, right then and there passed out and his body fell limp onto the rock behind him. His optics flickered off and his mouth hung slightly agape. Sapphire knew what that look was. She tried to coax the gunner to come to again, but failed. She frowned. She knew that sleep can kill an injured being, but there was nothing that she could do without injuring him anymore.

Just then, a curious incident occurred. A baby brown bear cub wandered into the forest opening. Sapphire eyed the little bear with curiosity. Bumblebee noticed the tiny animal as well, and tilted his head in curiosity. Bear cubs usually cry for their mothers when they are separated…so why wasn't this little one doing so? Sapphire shakily came to all fours and hobbled towards the lone animal.

_Something's wrong here._ Sapphire thought to herself. She cautiously crept closer and closer to the bear. The little cub still made no noise, nor did it seem to realize that a much larger animal was coming towards it. Sapphire stopped her advance and sniffed the air for a mother bear.

She smelled one.

A large silhouette blasted out from the forest line and slammed into her left side. Sapphire skidded back several feet and met eye-to-eye with her assailant: A ten-foot tall grizzly bear. The bear rose to its hind legs and roared at Sapphire's fox form. Sapphire's expression changed from surprise to anger and snarled at the bear with equal ferocity. She lunged at the bear and tackled its exposed stomach. The grizzly stumbled and fell on its back in the damp ground. Sapphire bared her teeth at the grounded animal. The grizzly rolled over like a turtle onto all four legs. The two animals glared at each other and circled one another, sizing each other up. The bear was the first one to react.

The oversized grizzly charged Sapphire's smaller form and at the very last second stood on its hind legs and slashed at her with its front paw. Sapphire did not expect the sudden move and did not react quickly enough. The bear slashed her in her back just above her injured thigh. She let out a malicious cry as she lunged forward and sank her canines' in the bear's right foreleg. The bear let out a rabid cry as it tried to balance on three legs. Sapphire clenched her jaws tighter; she could feel the bones crack in her mouth. She pushed back with all of her might. The bulky bear could not keep up with her and fell back into the muddy ground, again. The grizzly rolled back up again but this time Sapphire leapt onto the bear's back and bit down on its thick neck. The bear let out a frightful cry and rampaged around to shake the muddied fox off from its back. No luck. Sapphire kept a firm hold on the animal's neck, and just to make sure she would stay put, she extended her claws and sank them into the bear's back, causing more pain for the grizzly. The bear howled in frustration. As a last ditch effort, the bear reared up suddenly, and fell on its back.

Four of Sapphire's ribs snapped on impact. Her breath was taken from her and made no cry. The successful bear once more rolled off from its back and stepped back from the fox that was sucked into the muddy ground. The fox still lay stunned in the cold, muddied forest floor. The bear took this brief opportunity and turned it into an advantage. The bear rushed in and clamped onto fox's injured leg—crushing its femur.

An ear splitting, bone chilling scream swept across the forest.

The grizzly with no effort at all flung the fox over its shoulder into the trunk of a pine tree. The fox's right side slammed into the trunk and sent pieces of bark flying into the air. The fox slid down into the muck that surrounded the trunk and struggled to regain her stance. Blood once more oozed out from her leg and dripped on the forest floor beneath her, staining portions of her muddied fur to a dark scarlet. The grizzly stalked up to the fox for the final blow. The bear stopped and roared into the fox's face, sending the fox's own blood spattering into her face. For a moment the fox glared into the beady, black eyes of the grizzly. The bear reared up for one final time and raised its right paw for the final blow. The fox retaliated for one final time as well.

The fox spewed out a stream of fire that coated the bear's body in flames. The grizzly stumbled backwards and cried in agony as its flesh and fur burned, sending a gut wrenching smell into the air. The fox scrambled onto her feet and tried to make her escape, but the bear would not give up just yet. Patches of fur were still ablaze on the bear as it brought down both paws in pure rage, onto the fox's chest. The grizzly pinned down the fox, and tried to push the life out of her. The fox tried to kick the bear off of her, but when she kicked she heard a crack and more of the warm blood spattered all over her. The fox looked up and saw that part of the bear's head was gone. The image she saw burned a hole in her mind: The bear had lost everything above its snout. All sorts of liquids and tissues, (to her, looked like red, diluted cottage cheese) spilled out of the bear's head. The grizzly crashed on its right side into the muddy ground. The fox, shakily, stood up and saw that Bumblebee was gripping his white rifle with both hands. She noticed that the barrel of his weapon was smoking.

Bumblebee shakily lowered his arms to his sides and dropped his weapon. He just stared at the bloodied fox that gave him a questionable look. As the fox tried to limp over to the yellow Volkswagen, her crushed leg gave way. She tried to drag her body on three limbs to the yellow bug. Bumblebee ran over to the fox and gathered her up in his arms and took her back over to Bluestreak's unconscious form. He gently placed the broken fox over Bluestreak's lap and sat next to her head. He reached out his left arm to pet the fox, but hesitated. He just stared—blankly at the broken fox. He brought his hand back. He didn't really know what to do to help Sapphire, so he just sat there with an empty expression. Then, out of nowhere, Wheeljack's Lancia form came skidding into view. He transformed and ran up to Sapphire.

"What happened?" Wheeljack frantically exclaimed at Bumblebee. Bumblebee's lower lip trembled and brought both of his legs up to his chest; rested his head on them. Wheeljack, bewildered at Sapphire's condition knelt down and ran his right hand lightly over Sapphire's right side. Sapphire flinched and her voice cracked as she spoke.

"Nothing too serious…just a few scrapes here and there." Sapphire's breathing became labored and she coughed up some blood.

"You don't call that _serious_, Sapphire?" Wheeljack blurted out in anger. He regretted what he said when she huffed, and dropped her head on the damp forest floor.

"It's that bad?"

"Yeah…" Wheeljack grudgingly replied. "I-I'm sorry. This is my fault. None of this would have happened if I didn't test that slagging machine today. Primus, I should be off-lined right now…" His voice trailed off in anguish and shook his head at his stupidity.

"It's not your fault, Wheeljack. Look." Wheeljack turned around at the bear carcass and saw that it wasn't a _bear_ carcass anymore. There on the ground lay two squid bounty hunters: Jacque and Schudo—two **dead** bounty hunters.

"What?" Wheeljack gasped.

"I…suspected that those two caught up to me. That means the other two went for supplies…or my confuse ray did more damage…than I thought." Sapphire strained to get up again, only to succeed in causing more stabs of fresh pain to shoot their way up her leg and back. She hesitated, and began to shake from her slashed flesh that hung like freshly cut fish filets off her afflicted areas.

"Sapphire!" Wheeljack gasped. "Don't move. Let Bee and I take care of you." He bent down to scoop up the injured fox into his arms but said fox would not allow the engineer to do such an action. Sapphire swiftly jerked her head towards him and snarled.

"**NO!**"

Wheeljack was taken by surprise and quickly retreated. Sapphire eyed the Lancia once more, and she continued her interrupted ascent to her feet. She grinded her teeth and continued on with the agonizingly slow motion. Finally, after a few seconds, she was on all fours. And she limped forward, inch-by-inch. Bumblebee and Wheeljack both pleaded for her to stop, but she neither listened, nor cared. She had to prove to _herself_ that she could still move. And if she could move, that meant she could still fight.

The two mechs fell silent when Sapphire stopped in her tracks. She let her head sag, her shoulders slump forward, and her injured limb hover slightly above the ground.

"Don't fall behind me." Sapphire growled in a hoarse voice, and continued on her trek. Bumblebee and Wheeljack did not ask any questions. They hurried over to Bluestreak and carefully lifted him off the ground and dragged his lifeless body frame behind the severely limping, bleeding, and mud caked form in front of them. The group did not stagger very far. The fox struggled to make its way into a very large, above ground cave she noticed was nearby. The two mechs with their unconscious member followed the well built animal into the cave not a moment too soon. The grayed sky opened up and rain poured in a constant downpour that fell like marbles from a jar. A faint rumble of thunder echoed throughout the natural shelter the four beings resided in. The thunder heralded the long and tedious night that lay in front of the group.

* * *

"Optimus, Teletraan's receiving a faint signal from Hound." Red Alert's voice rose with fear (as it always did when receiving any kind of faint signals) when he called the Autobot leader from across the room.

"Can you boost the signal, Red?" Prime asked the security chief when he ran up to him.

"Hold on." Red Alert typed with blinding speed and a moment later, a fuzzy image of Hound came into view.

"Hound? What happened? Your group was supposed to be back here two hours ago." Optimus' own concerns snuck into his speech.

"Sorry Prime…but…ambushed." The screen on Teletraan cracked with static, disrupting portions of Hound's message.

"Ambushed?"

"Yes…Sapphire's hit…Bluestreak…badly…leg…Transmitting coordinates…"

"What? Hound, stay where you are, we're coming to get you!"

"—rime?...Can…hear…Prim—" Static engulfed the remaining blotches of Hound's figure completely. His message was cut off.

"Slag! Red, what happened!" Optimus slammed his fists onto Teletraan 1, aggravated in the lack of an explanation from his best tracker.

"You're not going to like this, but Hound's transmission's been jammed." Red Alert failed to hide his emotions when he diagnosed the problem.

* * *

"Hound radioed me saying that he made it past the jamming frequencies. I figured that he could handle things on his own and thought that you would need some extra help just in case something happened." Wheeljack tried to shrink in a corner when he regretfully told Sapphire about his sudden "U-turn" in his course.

"So you just left him out there on his own? You dumbass!" Sapphire growled at Wheeljack.

"I said I was sorry!" Wheeljack mumbled under his breath.

"That still doesn't—" Sapphire perked her ears up and abruptly turned her head to the entrance of the cave.

"What is it—" Wheeljack, curiously asked.

"Shh!" For a few seconds the cave fell silent save the rain pouring outside. Then, Sapphire sprang up on all fours, despite her injuries. "We have to go, _now_."

"Why—" Bumblebee was not given the opportunity to voice in his question.

"Shut up, we are leaving now. Grab Bluestreak, and follow me. Wheeljack, can Skyfire navigate his way through weather like this?" The two mechs now knew the severity of the situation.

"When it's an emergency, Skyfire'll brave anything." Wheeljack optimistically stated as he helped Bumblebee pick up Bluestreak. Sapphire painfully started her frantic trek out into the pouring rain. Her mud caked fur rippled from dry to sopping wet like a person walking through a waterfall when she inched her way out into the unknown wilderness; into the dead of night. The rain pounded her body, and whipped at her gaping sides causing more pain to make her hurry even more. The two, plus one, incapacitated mech followed her out into the torrential downpour. The rain made communications only possible via yelling at each other.

"Sapphire, what if who or whatever is coming, reaches us before Prime does?" Bumblebee attempted to shout over the relentless rain.

"Let's just hope you guys can shoot at moving targets!" Sapphire flicked her head to the side to whip her fluff (more like flap) of fur on top of her head from sticking to her face. The group did not advance very far until they heard another voice from above and behind them.

"Going somewhere?" Standing on top of the cave the group moments ago took refuge in, was the remaining bounty hunter left—Jirrje. His squid-like head shined like polished marble in the streaking rain. Sapphire, Bumblebee, and Wheeljack turned to face their unexpected adversary. Sapphire bared her teeth at the armor clad hunter.

"You." Sapphire growled in a dark voice.

"Surprised to see me after all these years, fiend?" Jirrje set his charcoal, heavy duty blaster on his left shoulder, holding it by the butt of the rifle.

"I'm surprised to see you're in one piece. How's Sig? Is he still ugly as hell?" Sapphire smirked as she cocked her head back in a challenging manner.

"Oh, I'm telling him that once I get back."

"Not today, I'd rather tell it to his octopus face myself."

"I'm afraid my boss has other plans for you, and they don't include heckling his crew." Jirrje shoulder bumped his blaster that fell nicely into his hands with a little splash. He aimed it from his hip at Sapphire. "Now, why don't we settle this the easy way?"

"Let's not." Sapphire sent a ribbon of fire that evaporated the unfortunate rain droplets that crossed its path, at Jirrje. He dodged it—barely—giving Sapphire the opportunity to high tail her ass out of opening and dash (with a severe limp) into the dark and dreary forest.

"I always love it when they run!" Jirrje maniacally laughed as he activated his jetpack and began his fox hunt. All that Bumblebee and Wheeljack could do now was pray for a miracle to happen. Their prayers were answered when the roaring engines of a Valkyrie jet overcame the thunder from autumn storm above.

* * *

The hunt marked its path deep into the coniferous forest. Sapphire and Jirrje weaved through the pine trunks as if they were dancing (a deadly dance) with each other. With each stride Sapphire slowly lost some distance between her, and her air born attacker. With each pounding stride, her crushed leg threatened to give way. She felt her bones crunch together like ice cubes would scrap against each other when shaken up in a cup. Sapphire had to think of something, and fast if she was to make it back to the Ark in one piece.

Jirrje fired off short bursts from his combat rifle at the trunks of passing trees instead of Sapphire, forcing her to pivot away from the pine trees as they fell from their rooted spots in the forest. He was using a tactic favored by his kind: Force the prey to wear itself out. Fortunately, for him, his tactic was working.

As the two made their way through the forest, a thicket of thorn bushes came into view. An idea popped into Sapphire's head, but she was not going to like it. Considering the current circumstances, she had no other choice. She charged head on into the thicket of thorns. The thorns sliced her entire body even more than what the grizzly managed to inflict. Jirrje, stupefied, ceased his chase momentarily, but smirked at his luck.

"Damn, my luck just keeps getting better and better each time I visit this planet." Jirrje lurched forward and hovered above the thicket. He took his sweet time charging his rifle, unknowingly falling into a trap. As he was about to open fire, but another burst of fire came out of nowhere from the thicket. This time, he did not dodge in time. The line of fire consumed his rifle and he had no choice but to drop it into the thicket. He cursed in his native tongue when he caught out of his peripherals a bloodied fox emerge from the thorny obstacle. His blood boiled and he let out a roar of anger at his escaping prey. Rifle or not, he was _not _going to allow his prey escape that easily. Once more the hunt resumed.

This time, the predator and prey did not venture far into the forest when another obstacle came into view—one that Sapphire could not pass in her current condition. A sheer cliff that dropped at least one-hundred-and-fifty-feet marked the end of the path of the hunt on land. The cliff had all the signs of an impending landslide. The ground was muddied from the downpour, pieces of the cliff had already fallen, and rocks and vegetation were constantly falling from the edge of said cliff. Sapphire was the first to reach the dead end. She skidded, painfully, to a halt and let out a quick roar of frustration. She cursed under her breath when Jirrje blasted out of the forest screaming like a banshee.

Sapphire tried one last trick and breathed out a swirling tornado of fire at Jirrje. He did not even attempt to dodge the flaming vortex that came at him like a freight train. He regretted his foolish action. The swirling fire engulfed him and danced violently on his flesh, searing it to the bone on few spots on his arms, face, and hands. He roared in defiance and in anguish all at the same time. How could he let this mere animal beat him **and** his colleagues? How? As he was successfully distracted, she let loose another wave of fire that drew a line between her and him. If he wanted to finish her off, she would make sure he would do so by the infamous "trial by fire".

Sapphire contemplated her escape or decent from the cliff when a thundering noise came from overhead. She looked up to see the silhouette of a massive jet fly by.

"_Skyfire!"_ Sapphire smiled, but it vanished quickly when she heard a battle cry from the other side of her wall of fire. She lowered her head and backed up as far as she would dare to the edge of the unstable ridge. Jirrje ran through the flames with horrible burns showing on his face. His left cheek bone and part of his jaw bone were visible. She roared doubting he would hear it over Skyfire's engines.

Jirrje, wielded a combat knife in his left hand and activated his jetpack. He flew at Sapphire at full throttle still bellowing his battle cry. Sapphire trumpeted her own animal cry and lunged with all her might at the smaller being. The two collided in mid-air. The ledge gave way the moment the two made contact with the muddied ground, and plummeted their way down the edge. On their decent, Jirrje stabbed Sapphire's left shoulder, while she bit down on the right side of his neck—on his jugular.

"I've waited for twelve years to finally get my revenge!" Jirrje cried out in a strained voice. He was going to withdraw his blade from Sapphire's shoulder to stab her again. She released her grip on him and kicked down on him with her good leg before he had the chance.

"Too bad you'll never live again to tell your tale again!" Skyfire caught on to Sapphire's plan and as the two fought he turned around and flew towards her. He saw his chance that she gave to him, and opened fire. Jirrje plummeted to the ground, riddled with holes. He was dead before he made friends with the ground. Sapphire tried to slow her decent by sliding down the cliff with her claws. They gouged out a line of earth in their wake. Skyfire added an extra boost of energy to his engines and strafed by the side of the cliff. She saw him racing towards her and with her remaining strength, pushed off from the cliff. He thundered past her and as he did, two black forearms reached out and grabbed her forelegs. Prowl dragged her into Skyfire and rested her gently, like a broken piece of china, on the paneled floor.

"That," Sapphire breathed out. "Was one hell of a catch, Prowl." He did not say a word.

"Skyfire, get us out of here!" Optimus Prime commanded as he ran up next to Prowl. He sighed with relief that the rescue mission was a success. Although Sapphire and Bluestreak would need medical attention right away, no one else was injured. Prowl as fast as he could, pulled out the seven-inch combat knife from Sapphire's shoulder. She clenched her teeth in pain, but refused to utter a sound. He did not know what to think of at first when he pulled in such a…_broken_ form. But as she passed out on the floor, bleeding from her new wound as well from her numerous slashes, he only thought of one thing: Retribution. A flash of anger ruled over his face plates. The suffering Sapphire had endured to help Skyfire save the other patrol members, reminded him too much of his own pain and suffering he and his comrades had endured for the fate of Cybertron. Only this time, her suffering was caused by her brother. Her own slagging brother. A family member attempting to kill another family member…it brought Prowl's thoughts back to his own past. He slammed both of his fists on the floor next to Sapphire's bleeding form.

"I'll be damned if we let her brother live once we find him!" Bumblebee, Bluestreak (finally conscious again), Hound, Optimus, and Wheeljack all stared at the SIC's sudden outburst. Prowl lifted his hands out of the fist shaped dents he made and stared at them. Optimus placed a reassuring hand on his left shoulder.

"Don't worry, Prowl. We'll see to it that justice will be served to her brother," Optimus withdrew his hand and clenched it into a fist until sparks came from his joints. "One way or another."

* * *

The klaxon alarm went off in the med bay signaling the return of mechs who have sustained injuries. Ratchet really wished he signed up to become a gunner instead of a field medic when Prowl and Wheeljack brought in a virtually one legged Bluestreak. Ratchet directed the two mechs to place the silver-and-red gunner on one of the operation tables. Following the tracker and engineer was Hound. He carefully carried Sapphire in his arms. A brief wave of astonishment overcame the CMO, and for a few nanoseconds, he said nothing.

"Ratchet!" Hound Snapped. "Where do you want her?" Hound tried to suppress the anger in his voice.

"Over here, quick!" Ratchet pointed to the nearest table and Hound set the battered and bleeding form down on its reflective surface. Ratchet's right forefinger opened up at the tip and a laser scalpel extended out. He did not care if Sapphire could feel the scalpel, but he needed to stem her bleeding as fast as he could. As quickly as he was able to, he sutured up any wounds he found. He had to hold onto the strands of flesh on her back and leg in place (which somehow managed to stay in place after her fall) as he sutured them back. Then he realized something very important.

"Slag." Ratchet muttered. Out of his haste, he had forgotten an important detail: When he finished suturing up Sapphire's wounds, he could not start a blood transfusion. He did not have any blood in storage. "Prowl!"

"Yes?"

"I need a police escort. _Now_." Ratchet finished closing off Sapphire's most critical wounds and transformed into his ambulance form. A mechanical claw extended out from his rear doors and with his precision as a doctor, swiftly grabbed the fox and gently placed her on the bed inside of him. She barely fit into his cab. Prowl transformed and blared his sirens. Ratchet did the same once he was certain Sapphire was safely secured inside of him. Both mechs peeled out of the med bay, and sped down the hallways, almost running down Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker. The two speeding mechs flew out of the Ark and headed towards the nearest animal hospital in Portland.

* * *

An unsettling air veiled the Autobots while they all anxiously awaited any news to be radioed from Prowl or Ratchet. The two aforementioned mechs stayed behind with Sapphire at the Gresham Animal Hospital. In the stead of their CMO, Perceptor and Wheeljack took over in the med bay, and both were currently fashioning a new leg for Bluestreak's currently damaged-beyond-repair one. Bumblebee and Hound went outside in the thundering downpour to sit, and Bumblebee (for Hound's sake) explained what happened to the Autobot's newest asset. The spitfire mechs in the base, (aka: Brawn, Cliffjumper, and Ironhide) wanted nothing short than to rip the throats of the bounty hunters, and anyone else directly connected with Bluestreak and Sapphire's injuries. As everyone chose their sides to please their own conscious, all the Autobots had one attribute in common: They worried.

"Sapphire's a fighter." Optimus ironically, kept on reassuring his crew. "She'll come through."

Three nerve bending hours later, Prowl radioed the Ark. He informed Optimus that Wheeljack's device's rays, "ceased to afflict her," but she remained as a nine-tailed fox. He also mentioned that she would be spending the rest of the night and half the day tomorrow at the hospital. Ratchet would return to the Ark after having his last profanity spat out at the police car. Prowl also requested that Jazz should replace Ratchet, and help him patrol the vicinity of the hospital just in case if Neco decided to send his "people" for second time. All the Autobots released a sigh of relief.

Then the questions came by the droves.

"How did this Happen, Hound?"

"Who did this to them, Wheeljack?"

"Did the Decepticons do this, Bluestreak?"

"…Bee, are you alright?"

"Huh?" Bumblebee blinked and gazed wearily at the red-and-white field medic.

"Are you alright?" Ratchet asked again in a calm voice.

"Yeah, I just…needed some time alone." Bumblebee lowered his head. The rainstorm finally let up and only a fine mist fell on the two mechs.

"She's a tough gal, you know that?" Ratchet said as he sat to the left of the yellow scout where Hound sat only minutes before. "What did she say to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come now. You know what I'm talking about." Ratchet frowned and gave a dissatisfactory look at Bumblebee.

"She—she told me that she was going to try to make it back." Bumblebee crossed his legs, and placed his elbows on them. He held his cheeks in his hands and sighed. For a moment neither mech said a word.

"You wanna know something, Bee?" Ratchet gazed up at an opening in the clouds. Behind the clouds was the star-speckled night sky.

"What?"

"Sapphire saved my life many years ago, back when the War was just starting. Sapphire and I were both prisoners on an experimental facility on an asteroid in an outer rim system, called, Lylat. At the time, Sapphire was at the end of her mercenary days."

"Whoa, wait, Sapphire was a _mercenary?"_ Bumblebee asked in astonishment.

"Sure was. A damn good one too. Anyways, Sapphire and I were the leaders of the coup we organized in the facility. We managed to fight off the guards around the docking bay, and steal the cargo ships coming and going." Ratchet frowned. "But none of us ever expected…those scientists to send out their battle drones they were developing. We all assumed that the only experiments taking place were the biochemical—ones used in warfare…" Ratchet paused.

"What happened?"

"The drones were going to destroy the ships that we planned to use for our escape. The only problem was that none of us had any weapons powerful enough to stop the drones; except for Sapphire. She knew that she had to stay behind and stall those drones while the other prisoners, including myself, could escape. It was a suicide mission." Bumblebee's optics grew in size. "Sapphire had this strong sense of responsibility for every soul being tortured in that place, so, she took it upon herself to save everyone by staying behind. I honestly thought that was going to be the last time I would ever see her alive."

"Until a couple months ago, I feared the worst. Apparently, she was able to hold back those drones, destroy that Pit spawned facility, _and_ somehow manage to survive the whole ordeal. For some reason which only she knows, those scientists were very interested in her reaction to the Xenium based weapons. I was positive that if she was exposed to any more of those experiments," Ratchet stuttered. "I-I thought that she was going to die." He smirked as he still held his gaze upon the stars. "She proved me wrong, like how she will with you now."

"So, she's going to be alright?" Bumblebee held a sad smile on his face.

"Yeah, she'll be fine." Bumblebee sighed in relief hearing the news coming from the old codger himself.

"But that still doesn't mean I can worry." Bumblebee smiled at Ratchet.

"Very true, but you think you worry? I'll bet twenty credits right now, Sapphire's scared to death about Bluestreak's condition." Ratchet laughed.

"Yeah, that's a good point." Bumblebee laughed with the CMO under the crescent moon that peeked through the clouds in the misty autumn night.

* * *

Neco stood tall in the command center of the Nemesis, taking in the ocean life swimming outside the submerged space craft. His fish watching time, unfortunately, was being interrupted by Sig, who was currently yelling—furiously at him.

"So, you're just going to forget about Jirrje, Jacque, Mirocco, and Schudo? Have you forgotten that I have handpicked, trained, and taken down bounties with _each_ and every single one of my men?" Sig bared his teeth at Neco.

"Do you forget who you are mouthing off to, Sig?" Neco held his back to Sig and replied with an annoyed tone.

"No, I don't, but you must consider that—that wench of a _sister_ of yours took down not only my right hand man, but three of my finest hunters in _one_ night. **One** **night!**" Sig stalked up behind Neco with blood in his eyes.

"What are you suggesting, Sig?" Neco grew tired of Sig's unruly behavior and turned his head to scowl at him.

"Don't take me as a fool, Neco." Sig hissed. "I'm saying that you better make your move soon, before my men and I decide to change our minds about this 'alliance' we have with you. My men are not expendable.

"Trust me when I say this, in a few days time, we shall strike hard. I was just testing my sister to see if she had lost any of her talents since the last time we've met. Surprising, she's on the top of her game, despite her injuries. She hasn't slowed down one bit." Neco impishly smirked and resumed his fish watching.

"For your sake, I hope you keep your word." Sig sneered at Neco's back and stormed out of the room, leaving Neco alone to watch his fish. Silence filled the room. Neco narrowed his eyes and turned around to face the darkness.

"Tell your pathetic leader, Megatron, to come up here. I have some plans that require his assistance." Neco waited a moment when a low growl came from the shadow of a deactivated computer. Ravage emerged from the shadows in the dimly lit room and let out a sharp snarl at Neco. He trudged out of the room with a flattened back. Neco smirked at the retreating robotic cat and turned once more to gaze out of to the sparsely populated ocean floor.

"Enjoy your life while you can, sister. In a few days, I'm bringing it to its knees and **crushing** it."

* * *

**Author's Notes: Holy Slag… This was long o_o Anyways, I'm sorry if you are a sensitive reader, but this is how it goes ) Please Read and Review!**

**EDIT: Yay I proof read it this time... . sorry about that everyone. **


	9. Chapter 9: Change of Plans

****DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS, HASBRO DOES. I only own this story and the OC's mentioned! Oh, and all the other franchises I use/reference to in my story, do not belong to me either!** **

****First off, I'd like to thank those who are still reading. I'm sorry updates take forever, but the next few chapters will be the last until the next time I'm able to write…which may be a LOOONG time from now ^^; ****

****Now, enjoy the story!****

**Chapter 9**

"_Change of Plans"_

Doctors, they have not changed one bit over the centuries on Earth. Primary function: Do whatever they can with any available resources in the area to help their patient(s). Secondary function: Totally freak out when an anomaly of any sort makes itself known to said doctor. The poor sap in charge of the animal hospital seemed he was on the fine line between uncontrollable rage and passing out from the sheer impossibility of the situation he was currently in.

"This rate of recovery—it's impossible, in animals _and _inhumans!" A man who Sapphire would indeed identify as the "human" version of Autobot: Ratchet. He was in his late-forties to early-fifties, with graying, short brown hair. He even had those cheek hollows a man of his age would eventually have. Sapphire, could somehow, superimpose this man's face on Ratchet's. The doctor was sternly pointing his right index finger right in her face, amidst his panic attack he was starting to develop. How amusing.

"I know." Sapphire calmly replied to the doctor as he continued to flail his hand in her "personal space". She was dressing into a pair of kaki colored cargo pants, and a black long sleeve shirt to replace the ugly hospital gown the nurses somehow obtained from a _human_ hospital.

"No human could possibly be able to walk around after the severity of injuries you've sustained this goddamn fast!"

"I know." Sapphire casually zipped up an electric blue jacket as the doctor continued his outburst.

"Do you have any idea how much suspicion you'll drum up with the medical world? Especially after what our surgeons _found?"_ The doctor ran his fingers up through his short hair in sheer bewilderment, "You could possibly shut down this hospital!"

"I _know._" Sapphire spoke in an annoyed voice as she shouldered past her caretaker as he still was having a hard time comprehending the unbelievable.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Yes, _sir,_ I am, and yes, I've heard this speech before. Now, if you don't mind I have to be somewhere right now. Stop tying your ass in knots. You're the doctor, you make the calls. Figure it out what you're going to do." Sapphire sternly told the highly offended doctor. She did not even bother looking back at him when she walked on out of her room. She headed straight for the exit. To the daylight: _Freedom!_

After allowing her eyes to readjust to the harsh daylight, she jogged down the concrete stairs, and onto the sidewalk that was slowly filling up with ordinary civilians going about their average day; unaware of the unnatural being that adapted to become one of them. The average citizens also failed to notice the 911 Porsche, or the Datsun police car that were not of the same era, nor the same _planet _as the other non-sentient vehicles that littered Earth, whom have, so called, "blended in".

The Porsche with red and blue ribbons of paint and a bold, black number "4" on the hood opened its passenger side door for the newly released "human" from the Gresham Animal Hospital. Sapphire, at first silently accepted the offering, but at the last moment, halted feet in front from the door that was ajar. She was overcome by a feeling she has not experienced in a _very _long time: doubt. She averted her weary gaze to the cracked, man-made walkway. She reflected upon herself, the previous day's incident and sighed when she came to a logical, but painful solution.

"You wanna hop on in so the others can see ya, Sapph?" Jazz, the Porsche, modestly asked.

"No." A simple answer, yet, the most perplexing answer one could ever hear. How amusing.

"Come again?"

"No. I'll walk. I need some time to myself." All emotions, except for remorse, were sapped from Sapphire and it showed when she spoke.

"I highly disagree with your logic, what if your brother attacks again? You'll be an easy target." Prowl chimed in with a more somber tone.

"I'll be _fine_." Sapphire's mood dampened even more, "It's been a while since I've been injured that badly." She subtly winced in pain and touched her right side of her midsection.

"You sure you're okay? I mean, it's only been—scratch that, not EVEN a day since—. "Jazz sided with his logical friend. Unfortunately, not even Prowl's logic would deter Sapphire from changing her mind.

"If I wasn't, then I wouldn't be out here now, would I?" Sapphire said with a disturbing undertone filled with disgust. She scowled and shoved her fists deep into her pockets and turned to merge back into the flow of human traffic on the crumbling sidewalk. She did not care where the street led, she just wanted to be free from anyone breathing down her back as she tried to compose her thoughts and plans for the future. A sidewalk filled with oblivious humans seemed fitting. "I'll be back by five." Those were her final words before she became totally immersed in the daily bustle of the lives of people one sometimes wished to be: Ordinary.

"I still don't approve of her trying to return to her duties this soon after the extensive injuries she sustained. She's not Cybertronian. Even if she was, she would have been given more time to recuperate than what she's forced upon herself." Prowl frowned upon Sapphire from afar.

"True, but she has the heart of a warrior, and a problem our good ol' friend, Ironhide has: Pride. And that my friend, is something that can easily be broken. She just needs some time to fit all the pieces back together." Jazz reassuringly told his logical friend.

"Indeed, but why would she not show herself to the others to settle their uncertainties and doubts? I know for a fact everyone has been concerned. That should be her priority now: To see to the needs of others, rather than to her own."

"Ah, cool it, Prowl. Remember the day when your city was destroyed? Do you think you wanted to settle other mech's needs at that time?" Prowl fell silent. Jazz regretted bringing up such a personal subject, but then again, every Autobot went through the similar memory of having everything they could ever have, be taken away by the Decepticons. Although the Autobots have known her for roughly three months, they knew little about Sapphire's past. Even so, by the way she fights, and how secretive she can be, there's obviously something she is not willing to reveal to anyone, and by their own past experiences and hardships, they have deduced that whatever it is, it's definitely something _dark._

"Sorry, Prowl, but that was the only way I could think of showing you what I meant. She's a warrior, and she laments like one." Jazz paused, "She'll come back, and so far, I haven't seen her break her word yet. I don't think she will today." He pulled into traffic and through his com-link, continued to speak. "I'll take the front. You got her back?"

"I do now." Prowl released a sigh and he too pulled into the two-way street that was starting to show the signs of the frantic "lunch break" hour.

* * *

The great city of Portland was nearly identical in the same retrospect of "living the city life" as one would be accustomed to in New York, minus a couple dozen skyscrapers. Instead of the central park, Portland had the Deschutes National Forest to the east and to the west, the Pacific Ocean. Portland really was a cozy city to live in. Cozy: A word that has not held any meaning to one individual for many eons. Cozy was definitely not the correct word choice for the jumbled feelings Sapphire was experiencing. Perplexing sounded more or less fitting for her as she was consumed by the intricate maze she quickly became lost in: Her mind.

_You know what I am telling you, my dear is correct. Your past life __**has **__caught up with your 'easy-going' lifestyle you've been recently living. _

_I don't know what you're talking about. _

_Oh, really now? You're lying to yourself._

_Then would you care to explain to me why I'M the one tying myself into knots over some—some insignificant specs? _

_No. _

_No? Why not? _

_Because you already know the answer, you've just forgotten it, my dear._

_You—who are you? _

_In time, all answers will reveal themselves to you, my dear._

_I've waited long enough, and I've searched long enough to say that I've waited, AND searched long enough. _

_So old, yet, so naïve. You still don't know anything, my dear. _

_Shut up._

_If I do now, then I won't be able to tell you that you're about to be run down by that F-150 coming your way. _

**HONK!** Sapphire instinctively leapt backwards a few feet, and narrowly missed being run down by a coal black Ford F-150 pick-up. She did not realize her uncontrollable episode of being temporarily locked in her subconscious, and drifted off the crumbling sidewalk and onto the street riddled with pot holes and daily commuters driving on said street.

"Hey! Get outta the way you idiot!" A man in an ordinary outfit, yelled out of his window as he shook his fist while passing Sapphire. She sighed and hopped back onto the relative safety of the worn out sidewalk. Just as she did, the same white Porsche with racing prints on it zoomed on by, and barely missed clipping her left arm. She instantly recognized the car and without hesitation, proceeded to flip off the Porsche with windows too tinted to see who the driver really was.

"_Osik troan!_" Sapphire yelled while giving "the finger" at the Porsche that recklessly sped down the road and disappeared around the bend. She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Damn idiot…_Osik._" She sighed and let her shoulders loosen up and droop a bit. She decided getting away from all the civilians (and the road) would be a smart move right now. She climbed a short stairway that led to a well kept garden that had a stone fountain with some sort of Greek air to it. Closer examination of the garden revealed that a very inexpensive, outdoor café lay just behind the fountain. She was going to go grab a bite to eat when the distinguishing sounds of bows gliding masterfully over strings filled her eardrums.

"Hmm?" Sapphire perked her head up and listened intently to the music that was starting to overcome the honks and beeps of the city life. Such a masterful sound string instruments could produce. They had a classy vibe that seemed to slice through every sound wafting through the city air that somehow, demand total attention despite the odds it faced of being snuffed out of existence by the daily commuting of everyday people.

"Beethoven?" Sapphire allowed her ears to track down the elusive but beautiful music. The trail of music led her past the eloquently sculpted fountain, past the delicious scents of freshly baked bread and smoked honey ham. Oh, how badly she wanted to eat (it had been a few days since her last meal) but the intoxicating grasp the music had upon her was so great, it compelled her to continue her search for the source of its origin. Her eagerness to find the origin forced her to run. Trailing the music like how a bloodhound trails a scent of an escaped prisoner, she dashed through packs of people, across the slithering roads, and past the cleaner parts of town. Her frantic journey ended when the trail of music stopped at a wall filled with graffiti tags and symbols. Near the tagged wall sat a rusted bench, and on said bench sat four well dressed men in their early thirties. They looked as if they were supposed to perform in Cinderella's ball, not play in a rundown courtyard with a few homeless bums scuffling around trying to make a living feeding pigeons. Although the men were mostly secluded from the city life they still managed to drum up an impressive crowd of all ages and backgrounds.

There were two violins, one viola, and one cello that harmonized beautifully while playing their version of a Beethoven string quartet. Sapphire found out that she too, fell under the spell of the string players' music. Like all the other people surrounding her, they were the mice to the piper's flute and they obeyed whatever he commanded them to do. The passion behind the song was something she never heard of before. It was a melody from a complete stranger and they transformed it into a masterpiece from their soul. Then she noticed why it sounded so beautiful. The men were all bald, and had a white paper ring around their right wrists. They all were cancer patients, and by the passion they put forth into their song, it appeared to her that they knew what their fate was. Her spell was broken, and she was free to do whatever she pleased once again. The song she heard was hardwired into her brain. She would never forget that song out of respect for those dying men who played—no _performed_—their elegy. She did not take note of her body slowly drifting away from the small group. Her legs continued to walk, and she had no control over where they were going to take her. The song continued to reverberate in her ears, but it was slowly fading into the more powerful, and chaotic sounds of the universe. Just like how those men were fading into the violent history of their planet, never to be seen ever again.

A truly dark undertone lay underneath the beautiful tune; the same thing could be said about Sapphire. A dark and foreboding feeling crept up her spine and it wriggled its way into her soul. The dreadful feeling seemed to her like it was something buried, or something long forgotten that was awakened by the requiem. A strange feeling it was indeed… While lost in her thoughts, she quickly discovered she was back at the café. The smells came back to her once more, and she remembered how much she wanted a sandwich.

* * *

During the absence of their non-mechanical member, the members of the Ark seemed to be a little more sluggish and apathetic towards everything around them—including their own duties. This unusual behavior was usually associated with them when they were in the early stages of the Great War; the time when they all lost everything and all hope seemed to vanish with their individual losses. They all seemed to have a giant rain cloud hanging over their heads.

That was the case minutes ago.

Sapphire kept her word to the two SIC's and greeted a patrol coming back to their base at five-o'clock sharp. Brawn, Bumblebee, Tracks, Trailbreaker, and Wheeljack were the lucky mechs to be the first to see for their own optics that she was back and ready for duty. Wheeljack was the first to speak to her, and he could not keep his trap shut once he started.

"Sapphire! Boy am I glad to see you up and moving again!" The energetic engineer exclaimed as he ran up to her. The other members of his patrol too, ran up and greeted her with equal enthusiasm. "I just want to say—." Wheeljack was cut off.

"It's fine, Wheeljack. No one could've done anything about it. I'm fine now, really, I am. Don't get all bent out of shape over me, alright?" Sapphire remarked in a cheerful manner as she happily put Brawn in a headlock.

"Hey! Let me go you lucky scrap head!" Brawn pried himself from her grasp and pulled her in for a noogie. Sapphire laughed as she struggled to break free of Brawn's sign of affection. Bumblebee, Tracks, and Trailbreaker laughed as well, enjoying the final hours of October, and with a friend they thought could by human standards, never recover so quickly from wounds she sustained the dreadful night before. Wheeljack did not laugh, for he was not given the time to because of a familiar group of inventions he helped create appeared. A pair of extremely tiny, clawed arms lifted him up in an attempt to give the faceless engineer a "bear hug". Wheeljack's head fins flashed in surprise when Grimlock gave his "creator" a bear hug in his tyrannosaurs-rex guise.

"Whoa! Hey there, Grimlock. It's nice to see you too." Wheeljack grunted as his creation squeezed his chest until it started to dent.

"Me Grimlock want to say hi in Brawn's way. What he doing? It look fun!" Grimlock brought his enormous head down and tilted it in a confused manner to see more clearly what Brawn was doing to Sapphire.

"It's what humans call a 'noogie'." Trailbreaker showed the motion to Grimlock, "It's when they take their knuckles and rub it on their victims—I mean friend's head." Wheeljack's optics grew in size and he tried to wave his arms in a please-for-the-love-of-Primus-don't-tell-him-this manner. Too bad he did not have such caring friends. "Try it!"

"Hmm…like this?" Grimlock rubbed his knuckles on top of Wheeljack's middle crest on his helmet. Wheeljack cried out how awful his friends were as he writhed under the much more powerful Dinobot. Grimlock laughed at his creator's reaction and continued to give him a Dinobot style 'noogie', "Me Grimlock like giving noogie! It fun!" Then he remembered the red headed female, and instantly focused his attention on her. "Wait, who you? Me Grimlock never see you?" He eyed her very carefully as Brawn released her from his grip.

"I'm Sapphire, and you're, Grimlock?" Sapphire curiously held her chin in her hand. Grimlock snorted and released Wheeljack, allowing him to fall to the ground in a less-than-dignified manner. He waddled up to the humanoid and sniffed at her head, causing some of her hair to be sucked into his olfactory sensors.

"You, Sapphire? Me Grimlock hear of you saving Skyfire by Ratchet. I hear you good fighter?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess—whoa!" Grimlock scooped up her body and gave her a noogie before she could say anything else.

"Then me Grimlock like you!" All the other mechs started to laugh at the awkward scene once again. Now it was Sapphire's turn to doubt why she joined the Autobots in the first place.

* * *

_In the Ark…_

Sapphire ran into Bumblebee while she was heading towards the control room.

"So, do you know where Optimus is, Bumblebee? I need to speak to him about my brother. I must clarify some—important details with him." Sapphire's gaze darkened when she mentioned "brother".

"Hey, Sapphire! I'm glad you're back! To answer your question, last I saw he was in the control room with Prowl, Smokescreen, and Trailbreaker. But that was about an hour ago."

"So that's a no?"

"Correct." Sapphire sighed, "But, they were discussing about the means to attack your brother. We know he's affiliated himself with the Decepticons, so we must equate their numbers into the calculations and strategies that we know work effectively against them—."

"**NO!** Absolutely NOT! Even with everyone, you all will never stand a chance against him!" Sapphire snapped at Bumblebee. She levitated up to his optic level and pointed both of her index fingers at her chest, "_I _will be the only who will go up against him. Period." Bumblebee was completely taken off guard by her transformation of injured friend, into a commanding figure. He never stood a chance. "Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." Bumblebee lamely saluted to Sapphire. She averted her gaze away from him in thought and flinched when she recalled _why_ she needed to find Optimus in the most urgent manner.

"My brother likes to go after his enemies' friends first to make them suffer even more," Sapphire's gaze hardened to stone, "_Osik…_ There's gonna be a change of command around here!" she twisted her body around to fly to the control room, but doing so sparked a tremendous stabbing sensation in her right side. She touched her right side again and held back a pained grunt. Bumblebee took note of this reaction.

"First thing is first, get Ratchet to check you out just in case something is still out of place inside of you."

_Damnit…he's going to ask, I know it. _"Fine, but inform Prime for me of what I just told you, got it?"

"Will do, Sapphire." With that, the two beings parted ways; each with a different objective to fulfill.

* * *

The med bay on last day of October was fairly quiet. Bluestreak was up and about once more and came in every so often for diagnostics tests on his new leg. Today, it was Sapphire's turn to be examined by the seasoned field medic. She was in there under Bumblebee's suspicion she still might be injured from yesterday's "hunt". As usual, Ratchet took everything, even the tiniest scratch, in the upmost importance any _mech_ could possibly achieve. Only this time, the situation would evolve into something that bordered—horrifying.

Ratchet performed an entire body scan on Sapphire, and as the scan was in progress, levitating electric blue screens lit up in front of his optics. They showed four different angles of her body's skeletal structure. He frowned once he saw the stills of her rib cage.

"You still have two linear fractures on the right four and five true ribs…but everything else seems to have healed up just fine." He sighed, "All I can really do now is tape you up and give you some pain medication."

"I'll pass on the pain killers. Never liked 'em." Sapphire apathetically replied. _Don't let him know…_

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. But I—."

"Alright, wait here. I need to find some tape…wherever it is now." Ratchet huffed and proceeded to search through some storage shelves for said tape. As if on cue, Bluestreak strolled on in. He had a slight limp, but he seemed to be back to normal. Sapphire did not have to think too hard as to why he showed up in the med bay. His spirit perked up once he saw her on the main table in the med bay.

"Sapphire!" A smile long overdue, stretched across his faceplates, "You're back! I didn't believe it at first when Wheeljack and Tracks told me, but now I know they weren't over exaggerating again. Are you alright? Wait—that was a stupid question, if you weren't then why would you be here in the first place?" He forced out a weak laugh and embarrassingly scratched the back of his helm with his left hand.

"I'll live. What about you? You're leg took a beating as well. How's the replacement holding up?" Sapphire patted the table as a sign for Bluestreak to come and join her.

"Well," Bluestreak plopped himself to the left of Sapphire, "Perceptor and Wheeljack had to fashion a new leg for me since Ratchet was with you last night because it was damaged beyond repair. I still have a limp but Ratchet advises me to stop on by here every now and then to make sure that Perceptor and Wheeljack didn't _'slag it over,'_ as he put it. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back on duty after this visit. The next patrol was to be with me, Blaster, and Bumblebee." Bluestreak realized he was ranting and stopped his train of thoughts, "Oh, you should excuse me. I kinda went on a rant there, sorry…" He scratched the back of his helm in embarrassment once more.

"Ah," Sapphire waved her left hand in a nonchalant manner, "You're fine, Bluestreak. There was no harm in it. It's called passing the time." She casually smirked at the red-and-silver gunner. He felt relieved that she was one of the few beings who would never be annoyed with his ranting—and she did not know of his past either.

_She doesn't even know about my past, and everyone says that's the reason why I'm like this now…they're probably right. _Bluestreak shifted in an awkward way.

"Found them! Those little slaggers were hiding in a corner like everything else in this fragging place after I let those to scrap heads run the joint when I'm gone."Bluestreak and Sapphire laughed at the CMU's misery when he found out how disorganized _his _med bay had become.

"Alright, Blue, hop on off so I can wrap Sapphire up." Bluestreak carefully leapt off the table as to not injure his new leg any further. Sapphire hesitated about taking unzipping her blue jacket to let Ratchet bandage her up. Ratchet saw her hesitation, and assumed what he deemed to be an "obvious reaction".

"Just lift up your shirt a bit. No need to strip." Sapphire complied, with his demand, but she still showed a bit of hesitation when she lifted up her shirt just below her breasts. What the two mechs saw, confirmed why she was so hesitant in the first place, and astounded to the point where they mentally questioned what she really _was_.

"What in the name of Cybertron…?" Ratchet whispered in horror.

"Sapphire…is that—." Bluestreak's optics grew in disbelief.

"Yes…it is. They're replacements." Sapphire softly answered their unspoken question, "Get over it. You guys are made of metal, so why are you acting like you've never seen metal body parts before?" Sapphire bitterly remarked at their shocked reactions. She pointed at her "skin" and underneath it were some dark gray "webbings" that stretched up further on her body than what she exposed. The webbings also went down to her hips. The false ribs were more prominent on her left than her right.

"How—." Ratchet's voice cracked.

"I'll tell you later. It's a long story." Sapphire turned away from the two mech's mortified gazes. Her expression softened, "Bandages will help…if you don't mind."

"Right." Ratchet blankly replied. He was still in shock at her secret she kept from—_everyone_—until now. Even Bluestreak fell silent as he watched the CMO delicately wrap up his friend. Once he finished, she quickly looked up to meet both of their optics.

"Please, don't mention this to anyone, at least not now." Both Bluestreak and Ratchet nodded quietly. Sapphire held a steady and unmoving expression, "You guys are not the only ones who have sustained horrific injuries…Bluestreak, I believe you are next." She slowly floated up into the air as if she was tethered to a heavy, anchor, made her way to the exit.

"Yeah…where do you want me, Ratchet?" The silver gunner asked the white medic.

"Here's fine, Bluestreak." The two mechs were still locked in a state of total confusion and wonderment. They did not even notice their friend's departure or her hushed statement of appreciation.

* * *

The rec. room was presently vacant save for Hound, Mirage, and Trailbreaker. The three were lounging around on their time off from their duties. The trio was sitting at the table closest to the mech sized, plasma television, and telling some jokes to pass the time (since nothing interesting was on).

"So, you snuck into quarters, stole his high grade, and somehow that ol' bucket of bolts blamed those blasted twins for your shenanigan?" Trailbreaker stifled a laugh.

"Those twins put some of Wheeljack's industrial grade adhesive on my berth. I wanted a little '_payback'_." Mirage evilly smirked while he clasped his hands behind his helm. Hound and Trailbreaker busted out laughing. Their laughter was cut short when a bright, blue flash of light filled the rec. room, startling all three mechs.

"Is Optimus in here?" Sapphire blankly asked the trio.

"Sapphire!" All three mechs called in unison.

"Are you alright? We heard that you—." Hound stopped himself when he saw Sapphire's expression "Is something wrong?"

"Where's Optimus?" The question was a _threat._

"He's in the control room. You just missed him." Mirage replied calmly, "…but may we ask you a question?"

"What?"

"Who put you in the hospital?" All three warriors stared at her with vengeance on their minds.

"I've already taken care of them. My brother is _next_." Sapphire scowled at the group and in another flash of blinding light—she was gone.

* * *

A brief, but intense wave of bluish-white light filled the control room, startling the Autobot commander who occupied the room.

"Optimus, I need a word with you now." He spun around and found himself looking down at a severely troubled female humanoid.

"Sapphire, how—?"

"I'll explain everything later." Sapphire flew up to Optimus' height, "Right now I must ask you to step aside from Teletraan-1 so I may use it. I must find out what I'm sensing." Her confused, yet worried expression swayed the Autobot leader to comply. He remembered what a face like that usually meant back on Cybertron when he dispatched search parties to search through the rubble of annihilated cities the Decepticons deemed "military targets". "Does this computer have access to a satellite or something?"

"One step better, Teletraan, launch Sky-spy."

"Acknowledged, launching Sky-spy." Teletraan's masculine voice replied. Seconds later, a mini-satellite flew at supersonic speeds out of Mt. St. Hilary. The tiny device rocketed up into Earth's thermosphere and began to orbit, waiting for its next command.

_Impressive. _"Can Sky-spy lock onto energy signatures?"

"Yes."

"Good," Sapphire floated down onto the control panel on Teletraan-1 and placed both her hands on it. She closed her eyes and telepathically, she entered in the unique energy signatures of her brother, and the twenty or so bounty hunters that accompanied him, "Locate." Sky-spy whirred in anticipation for its new assignment, and it blasted off again locating its new targets of interest. Teletraan showed Sky-spy's position as a blipping red dot on the computer's gigantic screen. A map of the United States materialized as Sky-spy flew towards its destination. Then, over three dozen purple targets blipped to life—all in the same area in Arizona.

"_Osik."_ Sapphire murmured.

"Megatron." Optimus seethed.

"How many of the guys are good shots and can hold their own in hand-to-hand combat?" Sapphire coldly asked without taking her gaze off the screen. Optimus realized how serious the situation was quickly becoming.

"Brawn, Cliffjumper, Hound, Inferno, Ironhide, Jazz, Mirage, Prowl, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Trailbreaker."

"Alert them now. We're leaving." Sapphire sprinted out of the control room, and down the hallway towards the exit. Optimus took off behind her, all the while opening up a multi-frequency channel and contacted the aforementioned mechs informing them of their new mission. The two continued down the hallway and little by little, more and more mechs came out of different doorways and joined the two. By the time the Autobot commander and their humanoid member reached the dusty and mountainous terrain, the other twelve soldiers followed closely behind.

"No matter what happens," Sapphire called over her shoulder as she ran, "Stay together!" She leapt up thirty feet in the air, twisting around to face the group of Autobots and for the last time, teleported the group to their destination: Phoenix, Arizona.

* * *

The peaceful scenery of the Oregon vanished in wild and crazy whiplashes of white light. The picturesque view was violently replaced with the image of a burning fourteen story building being viciously ravaged by air and by land attacks. The building was crumbling to pieces by dozen of the mollusk shaped bounty hunters that fired every which way into the building with their assault rifles, grenade launchers, and even flamethrowers. Some took a more direct approach as to annihilating the humans inside of the building by charging head on into windows and massacring down everything they found. But the ruthless bounty hunters did not stop there; they attacked and slaughtered the civilians wandering the streets, and the other surrounding buildings in range of their long ranged weapons. Exploding masses of steel, brick, and asphalt grew when the Seeker Trio conducted strafing runs on the targeted area. They too, left no human alive when they struck. Screams for help pierced through the air like thousands of steak knives slicing ribbons of meat off of flesh. They were quickly silenced by organic and robotic life forms. The chaotic scene became more confusing by the intervention of the Autobots as they broke off into groups of two and tried to stop the alien bounty hunters and a handful of their Decepticon foes they have been combating for over nine million years.

Optimus and Ironhide broke off from the formation and attacked Megatron head on with guns a blazing and their battle cries roaring into their adversary's audios. About fifty yards away, Sunstreaker grasped Sideswipes hands as the red Lamborghini activated his jetpack and took to the skies around the besieged building and attacked a group of three bounty hunters whom were relentlessly firing at employees through broken windows and through the concrete and steel walls of the burning building. They fired relentlessly at the trio of hunters and forced them to break off their attack and separate. Below the twins, Inferno and Brawn held off Soundwave and his cassette twins, Frenzy and Rumble as the two Autobots tried to protect a group of civilians fleeing from their crumbling work place. Prowl and Trailbreaker were being pinned down by six bounty hunters as they hovered over their heads and relentlessly pounded the two with everything in their arsenal. Luckily for the two, Trailbreaker's powerful force field proved its worth once more by successfully stopping all of the bounty hunters' attacks. The only drawback with Trailbreaker's force field is anyone trapped inside could not fire back. Hound and Mirage jumped into the fray by successfully distracting all six bounty hunters by using Hound's hologram technology and creating ten Mirages' and ten Hounds'. That allowed Prowl and Trailbreaker to free themselves of the protective transparent field and counterattack their flying enemies. A couple of yards away from Optimus and Megatron were Ratchet and Jazz. They were utilizing every hand-to-hand combat move they knew in order to desperately hold off the remaining six bounty hunters. The field medic and saboteur parried blow after blow from the relentless hunters. Jazz blocked two punches and ducked to avoid being kicked from two hunters. He retaliated by grasping one of the hunters missed punch and flipping him over his shoulder into two more hunters trying to sneak behind him, sending all three into the charred asphalt ground. Ratchet sidestepped to avoid a punch and a kick and counterattacked by round housing both adversaries. He quickly pivoted around and threw a right hook into the jaw of one hunter who planned to stab him in the back with his combat knife. The battle seemed to be locked in a stalemate—until something intriguing happened when Prowl landed a direct hit on one of the hunter's heads. Instead of his brains spilling out, a black smoke-like aura rapidly escaped from the remnants of his cranium and the hunter quickly dissolved into the black haze.

_Doppelgangers…_ Prowl mused. Hound, Mirage, and Trailbreaker too, realized they were fighting very deadly shadows and proceeded to decapitate every one of their airborne attackers. One-by-one, they dissolved into the coal black haze. Eventually they destroyed all six doppelgangers. The four mechs rushed over to Jazz and Ratchet when Prowl received an urgent, "get your aft over here now before we're toast" radio message from the other SIC. With the tides turned against the bounty hunters shadow clones, the remaining six were quickly dealt with and destroyed by carefully placed blaster shots and a few times by Jazz and Ratchet, a swift kick to the head. Once all the shadow hunters were "taken care of", the six Autobots focused their efforts aiding trapped, injured, or incapacitated humans to safety. As if on cue, dozens of fire trucks, ambulances and police vehicles skidded into view and immediately set up first aid stations and the like. Slowly, but surely, the besieged humans were being lead to safety by the watchful optics of the Autobots warriors.

Meanwhile, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker finally caught wind they were fighting fake bounty hunters and systematically took them down by their strange and mysterious aerial acrobatics they dubbed, "Jet Judo." Once they were free of the trio of doppelgangers, they searched in vain for any survivors in view of the windows or holes riddled throughout the building. Once they realized how thorough those "living shadows" were, they flew down to ground zero and helped Brawn and Inferno fight off Soundwave and his cassette army that were currently wreaking havoc on the former pair of Autobots. The Twins subdued Frenzy and Rumble by gracefully punting them like how an American football kicker would punt the pigskin ball, back to Soundwave. The two cassettes slammed into their "father's" chest and sent him skidding into the asphalt ground. Inferno and Brawn shot down Laserbeak and Buzzsaw and pitched them back to their owner as well. Ravage knew when he lost a battle and retreated back to his master before any more bodily harm came to him. Soundwave slowly rose up from the asphalt road. The only way the four mechs could tell he was furious, was from the flashing vividness of his blood red visor. He unleashed powerful sonic waves at the four Autobots. The ridiculously strident and shrill scratching and screeching sounds contained within the sonic waves caused the mechs to fall to the ground screaming, and grasping their audio receptors in pain. Soundwave recalled all of his "children" to his chest compartment and with one final look back at the temporarily immobilized mechanical warriors; he dashed over to aid his leader.

Hound, Jazz, Mirage, Prowl, Ratchet, and Trailbreaker after briefly hearing the audio piercing screeches Soundwave emitted, rushed over to the still dazed and deafened group of Autobots. After ten minutes of recalibrating their audios, and balance stabilizers, Brawn, Inferno, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were back on their feet and ready for their next objective. Prowl took command over the situation, and felt that Optimus and Ironhide were more than a match for Megatron and Soundwave.

"Ratchet, go help the humans over by the aid station! Inferno, take Brawn, Mirage, and Trailbreaker with you to see if you can put out the fires! Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker, you two try to see if you can search for any survivors on the upper levels! Jazz, you're with me! We're going to try and see if we can find any survivors in the lower tiers!" Without hesitation, each mech went about their new assignment. Ratchet immediately made his way over to the hastily set up aid station the human medical personal put up. Inferno's hose-like appendage sprayed out flame retardant foam and proceeded to put out any flames that came into his view. Brawn tossed aside chunks of charred steel and concrete to free several humans from the ally way they were trapped in. Trailbreaker saved a few more humans by using his force field to catch the western side of another damaged building from squishing them. The Lamborghini Twins again, combed the upper levels of the Intel building but again, found no survivors. Jazz managed to squeeze his way into the ground level of the building while Prowl scanned the outer sides of the first floor to see if he could find any more stragglers. Both SIC's found stragglers, but not in a way the wished to find.

In a spectacular display of aerial acrobatics, the reason why the Autobots came to this warzone in the first place fell, from the sky above.

* * *

Sapphire immediately after teleporting the Autobots and herself in front of the crumbling building leapt into the sky and flew after the Seeker Trio after they streaked overhead. She immediately locked onto Starscream's six-o'clock and refused to let the F-15 fighter jet out of her sight.

"_You little shits, I will rip all of your heads off once I get my hands on you!_ " Sapphire telepathically passed to the three jets (traveling at supersonic speeds prevented any kind of vocal communication from occurring). She fired pale blue electrical manifestations of a mystical power long forgotten by time at the Seekers. Her aim was slightly amiss from her rage, but nevertheless, the electricity passed dangerously close to the three fighter jets. Starscream radioed his wingmen to break off formation. As his electric blue and purple wingmen peeled back from the red-and-white seeker, the later nosed up and climbed up through a thin patch of clouds. His assailant followed, still launching poorly aimed electrical blasts at him. She failed to notice her rash decision until it was too late.

_Your aim fails you, as does your reflexes, sister! _

Starscream cut his engines and Sapphire shot over his canopy and her face smashed into Neco's right foot. Fortunately for her, she was "super human" and a hit she just received only resulted in minor injuries. Although the attack was considered to be "weak" by _her_ standards, the impact of his kick caused her to tumble head-over-heels back the way she came and slammed into the chest plate of Starscream, whom transformed into his bipedal mode. He quickly grasped her arms before she could react in any way, and kneed her just below her shoulder blades. She grunted in pain and as swiftly as she was restrained, she spun around and around until the Seeker lost his grip and was flung off spinning out of control into the vast emptiness of the chalky, and smoke filled airspace. Without skipping a beat, she pulled out her chrome plated blaster and spun around to shoot her brother, but he anticipated her move and with his right leg, round housed the pistol out of her hand. He threw another right hook, but she too, anticipated his action and with her right hand, directed his fist away from her and threw a left hook right into Neco's right cheek. The impact of her punch spun him backwards, and away from her.

"You still have one hell of a left hook, but that alone will not save your _friends_." Neco lunged forward and bear hugged his sister and flew back to the burning Intelligence building. Sapphire kicked at her brother's underside but to no avail, freed herself of his vice grip. The city below was streaking by in myriad colors until they were over the attack radius. He violently dived towards the asphalt parking lot in front of the building she once worked at. As a last ditch effort to break free of her brother's grasp, she unleashed a wicked thunderbolt that coursed through entire being. His grip loosened but not in time for her to escape the impact of their nosedive, but she made sure that her brother would feel the majority impact when the two alien beings slammed deep into the asphalt pavement below. Their harrowing stunt was witnessed by both organic and mechanical life alike, as the two beings slammed into the pavement just twenty yards away from both Autobot and Decepticon members.

"INCOMING!" Hound cried out when he saw the two blurred figures speed towards his group. The Autobots scattered just in time; the two beings slammed head first into the asphalt pavement of the parking lot just outside of the deteriorating Intel building where Hound, Jazz, Mirage, Prowl, and Trailbreaker were seconds ago. Their impact created a crater roughly thirty-feet deep and the shockwave simultaneously created web-like cracks that shoot outward, like bolts of lightning, away from the site of impact. The crash did not go unnoticed by the two faction leaders. Megatron disengaged Optimus Prime and immediately dashed to the edge of the crater to peer down the cavity. A whoosh of air caused him to flinch, when Neco shot past him in a startled manner. Sapphire shortly flew out and pursued him.

Sapphire transformed both of her arms into thick, powerful, forest green vines. In a swift movement the vines wrapped themselves in uncountable amounts of time around her brother's body. The vines pinned all of his limbs to his body. He struggled to free himself but his efforts were useless. Sapphire swiftly reeled in her vines so her brother's face smashed straight into both of her feet. She used the momentum from her vines and somersaulted, bringing her brother along for the ride. Using all of her strength, she flung her brother back towards the ground at blazing speeds. He slammed face first into the asphalt next to the crater.

Sapphire landed in an attack stance in front of the larger group of Cybertronians. Everyone, including the two Decepticons locked their gazes on Neco's lifeless body. A chilling air of uncertainty brushed past everyone. Seconds crept unbearably past the faces of all the beings as they waited for some sign of life in one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Unfortunately, a sign came.

Neco's arms twitched and shook as they slowly moved underneath his well built torso. In a smooth and seemingly effortless manner, despite his condition, he pushed himself up and onto his feet. Bits of coal black asphalt clung stubbornly onto his face. His worn out trench coat waved ever-so-slightly in a gentle but frigid gust of wind. The wind seemed to be the manifestation of all the congregated beings' hidden fears. Feelings most have never allowed to see the light of day in many, many, _many _eons. They could not understand why, but somehow he awakened that dark, shadow that lay inside every living soul. The shadow: A mere vessel of extreme passion, expression, and _action_ that made even the boldest, strongest, and _**greatest**_ warriors bleed, profusely, of trepidation from their mystifying pasts. Their limbs became weak, and their will to die with honor fled when their cursed nemesis spoke.

"I must say, _sister_," Neco wiped blood off the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. A disturbing smile formed on his face, "You cease to amaze me. What has become of you? You used to be the most feared being in the known universe, but you threw all that away!" His conscious was being poisoned with insanity, "You could have ruled_ everything_**. **Now all you do is waste your existence away on some low-life mud beings and mechanoids? Where did you walk off the cliff, sister?" Sapphire's eyes narrowed as she hissed at her brother's taunt. The two super-human beings began to circle around each other in a territorial manner. "You used to be _strong_ in heart, body, and mind, _sister._" Neco frowned upon his sister.

"Heh, funny coming from the one who uses bounty hunters to do his dirty work, _hut'uun_." Sapphire shot back. Neco bared his teeth at his sister and snarled.

"Be careful of the words you chose to say sister, it may be the downfall of this civilization." Neco grasped Sapphire's neck with his psychic powers and dragged her strangling form inches away from his face. "Let us resume this someplace else, someplace less—_personal_." He grinned sadistically, and socked his sister in her injured side. He released her writhing form and watched it collapse to the ground, struggling to breath. A brief moment of satisfaction passed by, before he lifted off the ground and began to retreat. "In three days, I shall wait for you in the desert, my sister." He called down to his sister's weakened form before he completely vanished from sight. Reluctantly, the Decepticons followed their _new_ master—except for one.

"Why do _you_ stay?" Sapphire hissed through her teeth at the faction leader. Megatron looked down at her submissive form and scowled.

"You will defeat that fleshling for me."

"What?" Optimus, intrigued by his arch-nemesis' behavior, replied in place of Sapphire.

"Shut up, Prime." Megatron barked over his shoulder at the Autobot leader. The two glared at each other for a long while. The tension between the two almost broke out in violence but Optimus finally backed away and allowed Megatron to continue. "He has defeated me in combat and nearly deactivated the rest of my army with that cephalopod bounty hunter of his." He paused, "He has told me he will target Cybertron next once he destroys this mud ball." Everyone froze. Even Sapphire seemed taken aback at the tyrants' statement.

Megatron gritted his teeth plates disdainfully. He had no other choice, but for the sake of his army, his dreams, his planet's future, he had run out of options, "On behalf of the Decepticons," He cringed, "The _Autobots_, and for Cybertron, **kill **that fragger." No mech moved, no mech spoke, no mech could feel anything—they all became numb. Sapphire had regained her stance and gazed back at the desperate Decepticon leader. The corners of her mouth bleed a little, but she did not care. She found herself yet again, the fragile hub of yet another disheartened species ongoing existence.

"_Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. _I will honor all who have fallen before him." Sapphire nodded at the weary and hopeless tyrant. It was at this point, she realized how ignorant she had become over the centuries. She had the power back then to end her brother once and for all, but she never took it upon herself to end his life. If she did, all this destruction around her now would have never happened. All of the planets, all of those trillions upon trillions of lives he had already snuffed out…she could have prevented it. The reality hit her so hard she felt as if a whale landed on her chest. The knowledge she alone, indirectly caused the deaths of more beings than she slew herself overwhelmed her momentarily. Her thoughts were so jumbled she failed to notice the departure of Megatron. She also did not realize Jazz had appeared in front of her and was trying in vain to get a response from her. She could tell his lips were moving, but she could not understand what he was saying. The state of confusion and guilt she was in ended abruptly when an explosion roared through the air. Sapphire immediately snapped back into reality, and instantly knew what caused the explosion.

"Shit." Sapphire breathed as she turned around to face the deformed Intel building. Massive flames re-appeared from the lower levels of the building. The next explosion, she witnesses, along with all the Autobots who came with her. The explosion ripped out from the underground levels and spread outward and engulfed the surrounding buildings. The unlucky humans caught in the blast radius were instantly charred beyond recognition or were engulfed in the flames and were set ablaze. They ran and screamed for help, but it was far too late for them either. Their anguish would last maybe a few seconds before they too fell dead—burning. The emergency service people were forced to evacuate from the parking lot and move to a safer distance about half a mile away. They tried to round up as many civilians and injured as they could, but they could not save everyone. The Autobots tried to help in the emergency services' efforts to evacuate the area but their rate of success was about as slim as the humans'.

"Sapph! C'mon! We gotta high tail it outta here before this place blows! Sounds like this place has some sort of weapons depot underneath it! We have ta move" Jazz yelled as he ran back to Sapphire. He tried to grab her and run but she had other, more dangerous plans to attend to.

"Get as many humans you can to safety! I have to find someone!" Sapphire shouldered past Jazz and sprinted towards the highly unstable building she used to work at. Before Jazz could voice his concerns, she leapt up to the fourth story and tumbled her way into the floor through a broken window. Fire and smoke burned her eyes, and scratched relentlessly at her lungs. She used her psychic powers to lock onto heart beats to make her incredibly reckless decision a little less difficult. Almost at once she picked up two pulses and she ghosted through upturned desks, and burning walls, to reach the victims. When she ghosted through the blazing door that held the two hits, she could not believe the scene she saw. An older man, lay face down on the blackened tiled floor; he was missing his right arm. A mess of blood surrounded his gaping wound and all over his formal military uniform. Huddling next to his head, were two, young African American girls. Their long sleeve tops and jeans were burnt and covered in soot.

"Abby? Susan?" Sapphire called as she ran up and crouched next to the frightened and crying girls.

"Sapphire! Help us! Tom got hurt trying to save us from mean aliens!" Abby wailed as she clung desperately onto Sapphire's tattered jacket.

"I want to find daddy!" Susan sobbed as she too, clung onto Sapphire. She allowed the two girls to cry their eyes out on her shoulders for a few moments longer. She herself took the precious few moments she had and stared at Tom's corpse. She knew after all of this was under the bridge, she could mourn, but now was not the time. She quickly wrapped her fingers around his neck and pulled off his dog tags and grabbed both girls by their waists and ghosted through the wall so she was outside once more. As she ghosted through the wall, the floor below collapsed and fell into a pit of raging flames that incinerated all that it touched. Tom's body fell into the fiery abyss and dissipated into ash on its decent into hell.

Sapphire noticed on her frantic escape from the building that Inferno was too busy helping a fireman trapped under a chunk of concrete from a surrounding building, to heed warning to the impending explosion. As fast as she would risk with two human girls, she flew to the closest Autobot.

"Prowl! Look after these two for me!" Sapphire dumped the two terrified girls into his bemused arms. Just as suddenly she was in his face, she was gone. She grew a pair of powerful, auburn Griffin wings from her shoulders and flew back the way she came. In less than a second, she was behind Inferno (who at this point had the injured fireman in his arms). She only had milliseconds to react. She extended her right hand to his back and swung it over her head. Inferno's body was flung through the air by some invisible force and crashed near the area designated the "green zone". She had enough time to turn around to face the building. Then, everything seemed to move in slow motion. An eruption of wild oranges and wicked reds danced impishly around her entire body. A whoosh of hot air buffed her chest and seemed to push her gently back to her Autobot brethren. In this suspended state of time, she felt—happy. A smile twitched at the corner of her lips as the adrenaline pumped through her veins once more. The intoxicating rush of being in the fray after all those years overwhelmed her senses momentarily. Her incapacitated state prevented her mind from activating her self-defense system. But the buzzed feeling did not stay. She remembered Inferno's selflessness saving the injured fireman. She remembered Tom's body lying on the floor; the price he paid saving two innocent girls. Then, she remembered her final moments being alive on the asteroid. Time resumed its normal pace.

Brilliant and ferocious flames seared Sapphire's body, and burnt her clothes, and her dark brown feathered wings. The shockwave ceased to feel like a pillow, it felt like a train had plunged itself into her chest. The force of it sent her toppling head-over-heels back towards the evacuated humans and Autobots. Her tumbling seemed to never end until she crashed into the driver's seat of a fire truck. Glass slashed her back, arms, legs, and wings. The impact broke her injured ribs completely, and snapped both of her wings in four places. Her vision blurred slightly as she tried to register what exactly had happened. She tried to sit up but sharp stabs of pain attacked her and forced her to flop back into the truck's seat. Tunnel vision crept up and engulfed her eyesight completely. The shockwave partially damaged her eardrums and all she could hear was an annoying high pitched ringing noise.

Blocky shadows came into view and one of the shadows as carefully as it could, lifted her out of the cabin of the fire truck. The reeling pain kept her semi-conscious. Gradually, her vision became clearer, and clearer, until the blocky shadows formed into the mechanoid aliens she had befriended and could proudly call, _vode, _brothers.

"Ironhide…?" Sapphire groggily asked, "What happened?"

"The building's gone, Sapphire." He grimaced at her concussed state, "Ya saved Inferno's life, but nearly slagged yerself. Once we get back to the Ark, I'm gonna kick your aft." He forced a sad smile. Sapphire chuckled softly and grinned.

"Yeah, now it's your turn, Red."

"Ironhide, bring her over here!" Ratchet waved the veteran to make his way over to the medic. He stood near a boxier shaped ambulance. A white gurney had been set out just in front of the non-sentient ambulance's cabin. Ironhide placed her delicately on the stretcher for an examination (or rather, a chewing out). The CMO's optics flashed white and two rays of blared out of them, and proceeded to scan the shape shifter's injured body. A brief moment of silence passed when he finished scanning her. Finally, he sighed in relief.

"Thank Primus for your luck. Aside from your broken wings, you've sustained are complete breaks on your previously injured ribs, a few patches of moderate first-degree burns, some serrations on your back side, and well," He placed his right hand on her forehead, "a concussion."

"That's all?"

"It could've been a scrap load worst than it is!" Ratchet barked at her, but quickly stopped himself, "Just consider yourself a lucky fragger. All you need to do now is rest and—."

"Rest?" Sapphire suddenly sat up in the gurney, "You're telling me to rest after that _hut'uun_ does all of _this?"_ She held up the slightly tarnished and burned dog tags that once belonged to her last human friend. Her eyes flickered between the calm blue ocean and the raging scarlet wildfire, "I'll never rest until his head is mine!" She retracted her useless wings back into her shoulders. The horrific cracking and popping noises they made as they snapped from one angle to the next as they contracted back into her shoulders. The plumage fell off as they were unable to retract into her shoulders, and once they did, they evaporated into a translucent white smoke. The second her wings were no longer visible, she rose off of the gurney (that was now stained red from her back wounds) and turned sharply to pursue her brother. Before she could blast her way towards the horizon, two tiny and frightened voices stopped her cold.

"I want to find daddy first…" Abby, the taller of the two, called out behind Prowl's right leg. She has fine, straight, shoulder length, black hair and unusually brilliant blue eyes. She wore a light blue long sleeve shirt, dark blue jeans and a she wore her hair up in a ponytail. The shirt itself was burnt at its fringes and it had a few scorch marks scattered across it. Her jeans were a bit charred too, but not as bad as her shirt. Her slouched stance behind Prowl's leg showed she was frightened from Sapphire's sudden spite filled outburst. Sapphire stopped her ascent and stared at the little girl. Tears were welling up in the eyes of the infant and she began to cry once more.

"Daddy's gone, isn't he?" Sapphire bit her bottom lip at Abby's remark. After seeing the few survivors when she did, she knew there was a very slim chance for their father to have survived. The lack of an answer made Abby sob harder. Susan, who was being cradled in Prowl's arms, spoke in a shaky voice in between her sobs. She had curly, shoulder length, black hair and had clouded blue eyes. They were a stark contrast to her sister's vivid ones. She too, had her hair up in a loose pony tail. Her striped pink-and-white long sleeve shirt had a little black vest over it; both shirt and vest were charred at the endings and had multiple holes on them. Her light blue jeans were also burnt from the fires.

Fire. Oh, how Sapphire hated fire. Its taunting flames have already scarred her many times before, but none of her past encounters with the dancing reds, oranges, and yellows had ever tore at her heart as badly as seeing those two innocent, and now, perhaps orphaned children weep and _experience_ firsthand the devastating effects of a war Neco, had just started against Humanity, and soon after Humanity, Cybertronian. Megatron was wrong, the fate of not just Cybertron, but Earth hung, and waited like how cattle waited for their turn to enter the slaughter house. _All I ever bring is death. Why do I continue with this ongoing delusion! _

Fire: The devastating effects it could have on oneself.

"Do you remember what floor he was on?" Sapphire blindly asked the two grieving children as she lowered herself to the scorched ground in front of Prowl.

"Top, I think." Susan sorrowfully replied. She buried her face into Prowl's chest plate to hide her tears as they streamed down her face.

"Daddy's dead, isn't he?" Abby accepted what was probably true, and her bottom lip began to waver. She wiped away her tears with the back of her left hand. Sapphire walked up to Abby and crouched to her eye level.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out, okay?" Abby nodded her head slowly.

"Sapphire?" Prowl's steady and unmoving voice seemed out-of-place amongst the hushed whimpering, "I will assist you in finding the children's father." Sapphire stood up and looked the mech in the optics with a look that suggested later he would have to explain himself. She nodded in agreement. Abby took Sapphire's left hand and held it tight.

Sapphire turned to find some human survivors, but she stopped mid turn to gaze at the sparse and contorted framework where the Intel building used to stand. Smoke still rose from the rubble and debris were scattered throughout the blast zone and just feet away from the "safe area" where hundreds of people were gathered. The final explosion that brought down the building also severely damaged the any surrounding buildings as well. Some had gaping holes where the brick, steel, etc. were blown inward from the shockwave. Other buildings were slightly luckier and only had a few bricks, tiles, and whatever else on the outside swept away or caught ablaze. But actually seeing how the fighting ended, she could only imagine what kind of damage could have been inflicted if she pursued her brother over the denser parts of Phoenix. It took her a moment, but she finally shook her head and snapped out of her thoughts and resumed what she originally started: Finding out the truth. A handful of Autobots observed Prowl and Sapphire go about their mission. They stayed their distance as they communed with one another.

"Makes you sick doesn't it, Optimus?" Sunstreaker gravely asked his leader with an expression that very much showed his displeasure in what he was witnessing.

"They're just sparklings too…" Sideswipe commented as he walked up beside his brother.

"What do ya want us ta do now, Optimus?" Ironhide somberly asked as he surveyed the smoking pile of rubble where a building used to stand only hours ago. He stood next to his leader with crossed arms, waiting for a response. Optimus remained silent.

"We will help out these humans as best as we can until Sapphire decides it is safe to return to the Ark. Those monsters might come back, and these humans will need protection if they do." The band of Autobots all nodded their heads in agreement, and went about to fulfill their leader's orders in any way they could.

* * *

After fifteen minutes of both humanoid and mech wandering around and asking a few questions, they finally found out the fate of the girls' father. Sapphire had to tell them to their faces, that they would never see their father ever again. The news hit home harder than what she expected, but Prowl was there to relieve her of being "the shoulder to lean on". Intrigued by his sudden interest in the humans, she boldly asked the question very few mechs have asked before.

"Why are you suddenly interested in these two, Prowl? What happened?" Sapphire plopped herself down in front of an upturned piece of jet black asphalt and leaned her back against it. She raised one knee and folded her hands over it. Prowl had both girls in his arms and at this point, they had cried themselves to sleep. He kept them close to his spark as he spoke in a hushed voice.

"Back on Cybertron, before the war, I had a niece who I used to be the caretaker of. Her creators both died when they were out at a local bar, and a mech with a history of cerebral issues shot them both. I took it upon myself to raise their sparkling after I discovered their untimely deactivations." He paused and his voice dropped even lower and became almost inaudible, "She was a beautiful sparkling and I treated her as if she were my own. I loved her." He paused again. "Then the war started. My city I used to reside in, Praxus, was attacked and destroyed by the Decepticons. My niece was killed in the onslaught. I barely survived the attack but I could never forgive myself for why I lived and why she did not. These children remind me of all the happier days I had spent with my niece—and remind me why I joined the Autobot forces." Sapphire bowed her head and gazed blankly at the ground in front of her. Prowl continued to cradle the two human girls and did not seem he would be allowing them out of his sight anytime soon. A curtain of silence fell between them and neither one spoke for a while. They were lost in their own memories.

"I'm sorry for your losses." Sapphire sadly remarked to break the silence between the two aliens. Prowl did not reply right away. He was choosing his next words very carefully.

"What do you plan to do with them now?" Sapphire sighed, for she too was thinking about what to do with the girls now that their caretaker was dead. She let her bent knee extend out, and doing so she sighed. She rubbed her temples with her middle finger and thumb on her right hand.

"I don't know. If they have any immediate family members, I have to find out who they are and tell them the 'news'. But if I remember correctly, Abby and Susan are adopted and their foster mom wasn't exactly the best mom in the world." She ran her right hand through her hair and let it rest on the back of her head. "I can't just leave them here, Prowl. That wouldn't sit well with me." She huffed and let her arms fall to her sides, "I'll watch after them until I find a foster home or something." Her weary eyes wandered over to the decimated street corner. She studied the smoldering debris and the brave but ultimately, unnecessary attempts the humans made to sift through the rubble for survivors. _It's 9/11 all over again…_

"I thought I could escape all of this once and for all." Prowl was unprepared for her confession. "I was wrong. I look at this and remember now, how much of a fool I have been.' She clenched her hands and gritted her teeth in frustration. "If this isn't a reason to fight, then I don't know what is anymore." She stood up and faced Prowl with a newfound determination behind her eyes. "Contact Skyfire and tell him to bring the girls back to the Ark. I will bring them to my place once I return."

"They will be accompanied by Jazz, Mirage, Ratchet, and Trailbreaker. They were injured the most and they should be the first to arrive back at the Ark for repairs." Prowl added without hesitation. He then paused. "Sapphire, would you mind if I ask a personal query?"

"No."

"You joined the Autobots without any knowledge of our intentions because of our skirmish in New York. You appeared to know that we could handle ourselves, but when Neco arrived you've changed. You're very skittish and overprotective of everything we do. Why is that? Do you doubt our capabilities?" When Prowl asked a question, he never missed any nail in the coffin. Sapphire took a moment to process what Prowl had been holding back since she first joined the Autobots.

"To clarify, I do know about your war with the Decepticons over your home world of Cybertron and for Earth. I joined the Autobots because I knew I could move around more freely without having the Government doubting my intentions with every move I made. I could finally protect this planet without any restrictions to my resources and methods. But don't get me wrong, I don't doubt any of your abilities as warriors, none of you know what true power is."

"What are you implying?"

"Neco and I have powers that gods from myths should posses. We can do _anything._ No one should be able to _anything._" She turned away and looked down at her right arm. "I just want you guys to be safe. As of today, I've lost everyone through war—multiple times. I've paid a high price for some of the things I used to do, and now with the return of my brother," She looked Prowl right into his glistening blue optics, "It can happen again. The Autobots are the only thing I have left. You guys are the reason why I continue to survive and fight another day. When I joined, I remembered what I could fight for." Prowl's spark ached because her story is so much like all the other Autobots'. They too, lost everything from the Great War and they found a purpose once more in their lives. Realization dawned on him: No matter who, what, or where you are in the vast expanse of the never ending universe, war shreds your psyche to pieces. You adapt to survive and fight for what you have lost. He too, was no exception from his theory, neither was his "brother", Bluestreak.

"Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

"You have no idea." The two bowed their heads and listened to the faint voices of reporters who finally managed to make their way to the area of destruction. Soon, the entire world would find out about the recent atrocity against humanity committed by the brother of the person the world already hated.

* * *

Once everyone arrived safely back at the Ark (whether it via Skyfire or driving) repairs were in need of everyone who departed to Phoenix. Sapphire was busy replacing some fried wires in both of Ironhide's shoulders from some stray shots he caught from the bounty hunters at the very beginning of the battle. As if the ride back to the Ark with him was grueling enough.

"Those slaggin' squid freaks got both mah shoulders! I swear ta Primus, the next time I see any of them, I'm gonna knock their heads off!" Ironhide grumbled as he waited patiently as _he_ could for Sapphire to finish his repairs. She was floating from one shoulder to the next welding and cutting what needed to be replaced.

"I'm sure you will big guy." She flipped down the panel where she was working on as a signal she finally finished his repairs. He jumped off the table he was sitting on in the med bay and stretched out both of his worn shoulder joints. When he deduced that her welding jobs were satisfactory, he turned and glared at her. Sapphire eyed the veteran Autobot as she wiped her hands clean of grease on her already torn up jacket.

"You wanna take this outside?" Sapphire deadpanned as she hovered over the table and tossed her jacket down onto the table, where Ironhide sat moments ago, and folded her arms in discontent.

"Ladies first." Ironhide passed his hand out in front of him towards the exit of the med bay.

"I'll be back in five." Sapphire called over her shoulder to Perceptor, Ratchet, and Wheeljack as the two exited the med bay. The two received questioning looks from the three mechs but were completely disregarded.

"Oh, this oughta be good." Wheeljack quietly commented to himself.

* * *

Ironhide threw the first punch once he and Sapphire were outside of the Ark. The sun had already set, and nighttime and befallen the mountainous terrain, making visibility limited for those who could not see in the dark. It was a good thing both could, because then their fight would end very quickly.

"So, do you do this on a frequent basis with the others when they save lives, or do you just hate me?" Sapphire questioned the furious red van as he recovered and threw a right hook at her head. She ducked but she failed to notice his left leg swing up. He hit her square on the forehead, and spun backwards and stumbled onto the rocky ground. She could feel a black eye coming already. Before she could spring up and attack, he leapt on top of her back and wrapped his right arm around her neck. He had no trouble lifting her up back onto her feet.

"If they almost get themselves killed in the process, yeah, it kinda ticks me off." Ironhide struggled to keep Sapphire under his grip, and failed when she elbowed his face. More out of shock rather than pain, he loosened his grip on her. In her brief opportunity she escaped by kicking backwards into his gut. He lunged forward to grab her once more, but she anticipated his move and leapt up in the air and performed a back flip to evade his move. She landed directly behind him, and proceeded to put the Autobot veteran into her own sleeper hold. He struggled to break free, but her grasp was equal, if not greater in strength as his own. He gagged as he tried to speak again, "But I don't hate you."

"Fine, I'm sorry I hurt your pride by living and coming back to tell the tale." With a grunt she twisted her body around and flung Ironhide over her head and slammed him back first into the rock hard ground. "So are we done here? I'm really in no mood to rip you apart, especially since I just put you back together you, _osi'yaim!"_ She placed her right foot on his chest and squashed him back into the ground when he tried to push himself back up. He growled and gave her a death look when he realized he was going absolutely nowhere.

"It's somethin' humans call, 'tough love'!" He barked, "I should be tha one out there riskin' mah hide for Inferno!"

"Why?" Sapphire challenged.

"'Cause ya shouldn't have ta worry about us! We can take care of ourselves! You are tha only one who can stop your brother, and that's who you should be focusin' on! Not us!" Sapphire's eyes narrowed and she stared coldly at the veteran's battle hardened blue optics for a moment. Then, she lifted her foot off of his chest.

"What I do for you the Autobots should not upset you in any way. I acted on reflexes and saved a mech none of you could have possibly done in the first place." She smirked and extended out a hand, "So you're gonna have to shut up and deal with it." He reciprocated the look and grasped her forearm and hefted himself back up to his feet.

"Doesn't mean I have ta like it. Just promise me ya won't do somethin' like that ever again?"

"As long as you won't."

"I can't promise ya that."

"Then I guess I can't keep mine." She laughed as Ironhide pulled her in for a good old fashioned tussle of the hair, like how a father would do to his son when he approved of something he did. Ironhide laughed as well and the two waltzed back in the base with their Arms wrapped around each other's shoulders; as if nothing ever happened.

* * *

After she finished helping with repairs on all the Autobots were in need of them, she took the twins and headed back to her home. She promptly set up her spare room to accommodate the girls for the night once they arrived. First thing was first though; they needed a bath in the worst way. They smelt of smoke and a thin layer of crusty, black soot coated their entire bodies. She washed both girls off (with some trouble trying to get them to stay _in_ the bathtub). Using her powers, she shrunk a few of her own outfits and let the girls change into and sleep in.

"Sapphire," Abby quietly spoke to Sapphire as she was busy tucking both girls into their makeshift bed, "Will we be going back into the foster homes?" Sapphire sighed and ruffled the girl's hair.

"I don't know, but you probably will." The two girls fell silent and looked at each other, "But I will promise you this, I will make sure you two will stay together and you'll get the best home out there." She smiled at the two. Their faces lit up with joy and they both tackle hugged her. Once their happiness started to settle down and she put them back into their bed, she had one more technique to use on the two. "Okay you two can you look at me?" The two girls did so. Her eyes were a brilliant purple and the two girls were immediately captivated by them. Slowly, their eyelids grew too heavy to keep open and the twins were fast asleep in no time. Her hypnosis would certainly keep the two girls asleep for the rest of the night. The same thing could not be said for the girl's savior.

Sapphire booted up a super high-tech laptop like device. A ring of blue light projected up and out of where the keyboard was. Inside the light an emblem that resembled a fox with wings materialized and rotated, slowly on an axis.

"Voice recognition required." A monotone female voice came from the computer.

"Sapphire _te ram'ser"_

"Voice recognition confirmed, welcome back, Sapphire. How may I assist you?"

"Search for the foster parents of Abby and Susan Fortier."

"Searching…" The fox symbol was replaced by web of names that were scrolling by extremely fast. A few minutes of searching later, the computer highlighted two names and brought them forth. Two pictures of an African American man and a Hispanic woman accompanied them.

"Foster parents of Abby Fortier and Susan Fortier were David Michael Fortier, and María Pueblo Callas-Fortier. A month after taking in Abby and Susan Fortier, David Fortier divorced María Callas-Fortier because of substance abuse, and neglect of the two girls. David Fortier became the sole caregiver to Abby and Susan Fortier. María Callas-Fortier was charged and sentenced to life in prison when she shot and killed one of her drug dealers two years ago." Sapphire frowned and rubbed her chin in thought.

"Are there any members of David's family living in the United States?"

"Searching…" More names came up and a three-dimensional globe appeared as well. Bright red dots began to appear one by one on the globe. "David Fortier has three siblings: Joshua Francis Fortier, Alexandria Rose Clemming, and Thomas James Fortier. Joshua Fortier resides in Portland, Tennessee; Alexandria Clemming resides in Issaquah, Washington; and Thomas Fortier resides in Astoria, Oregon." Sapphire nodded her head.

"Search and save addresses for Alexandria and Thomas. I will go visit them tomorrow." Sapphire pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. She slumped back into her chair and listened to her computer verbalize its progress in fulfilling its task.

"Data has been saved. Is there anything else I may be of service, Sapphire?"

"No, thank you computer that was all. Prep for shut down sequence."

"Acknowledged." Her computer paused, "Sapphire, I have detected an intruder approximately thirty feet from the main entrance of your home. The energy signature resembles a Cybertronian sample you gave me many years ago."

"Can you put up a visual?" Sapphire asked in a calm matter as she grabbed a long black armored case with a spherical lock that had no key hole on it. She ran her hand over it and the lock unfolded into three pieces and the case opened revealing its contents: A sophisticated combat blaster shotgun. She loaded the weapon as her computer flipped up a visual from one of the hidden cameras Sapphire placed discreetly inside and out of her home. A red-and-white figure with "wings" on the side of its head was carefully creeping its way to the back of her home.

"Damnit Inferno, what do you want?" Sapphire seethed as she placed her shotgun back into its protective case. "Computer, you may shut down. I know this guy."

"Very well, shutting down." Her computer's holo-projecting capabilities flickered off and its screen turned dark. Before Sapphire walked out of her spare room, she glanced back at the two girls. She silently sighed and walked out trying to think of what the fire truck had to say to her at eleven-forty-two at night.

* * *

"You better have a damn good reason for being out here, Inferno." Sapphire spat out as she stalked up to the emergency vehicle. "What could you possibly want at this hour?" She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes into icicles at the mech.

"I just wanted ta let ya know that I greatly appreciate what ya did for me today, Sapphire." Sapphire's frown grew.

"Couldn't this have waited until the _morning,_ Inferno?" The fire truck flinched from her retort, but he did not back down.

Well, I _was_ going ta tell ya at the Ark, but ya left before I could!" The two glared at each other for a moment before Sapphire sighed and waved her hand dismissively at the Inferno.

"Fine, whatever, just don't get caught on your way back." She turned and walked back to the rear entrance of her home. Inferno smiled at her back and shook his head.

"Thanks." Inferno spoke as he carefully tiptoed his way back to the street and transformed into his vehicle mode and sped off with no lights on. Sapphire never turned around to bid him farewell, but she had her own faint smirk tooled on her face. She entered her home and closed the door behind her.

"_Ret'urcye mhi, _maybe we'll meet again on better circumstances." Sapphire frowned, "But we won't."

* * *

When a person slips away into their subconscious when they dream, many different theories have been put forth as to why this happens, and why some of the images we see are shown to us. One idea is that dreams are random images of past events, or experiences, and are shuffled together and randomly played back to you. This result is from your brain "house-cleaning" it's main activity when one is asleep. Some think it's the human mind showing or in some cases, telling you how to survive. Others, with religious backgrounds, believe it is Allah, God (whatever other synonym out there for "Him"), or something or someone far beyond the reaches of Earth, are telling us something. Then, there are others who think dreams are our minds showing what "wishful thinking" could have looked like. Ultimately, no one knows what dreams are, and probably, no one will ever find out. The same series of instances and theories, on a more confounding level could be said for another phenomenon; premonitions.

Premonitions are said to be "glimpses to the future". Dreams are said to be a collective pool of images and feelings combining together in chaotic and irregular manners to create a "fantasy land." Premonitions occur in dreams, and yet, sometimes those glimpses of the future come to be. The fact is revealed through _fiction?_ Sapphire could only laugh at how primitive the human race still was. Humans always wanted a scientific or better yet, definite answer to all of life's mysteries and problems; and that is where they are wrong. Unnatural occurrences do happen (despite all of humanities efforts to prove the contrary), and they do happen for one reason: To warn us.

Sapphire could only recall snapshots of the scene that played past her. The stills consisted of a flaming red stream of light, a ridge of some sort in the middle of the desert, and a smoldering heap of contorted metal—Cybertronian bodies. The images flashed before her eyes and before her mind multiple times that night. The images were a stark reminder of what would happen if she were to fall to her brother. _Megatron thinks he can rule the universe? Ha, what a fool. _The following day passed agonizingly slow, and to save the girls from being exposed to something—hideous, she entrusted the two to Prowl when she requested him to pick them up. She dared not enter the Ark, fearful she might lose her grip on reality (that was slowly diminishing every second she saw those images of her premonition) and go berserk. Once he departed, her mind started to break down. She stormed around in her home, and threw around anything that crossed her path. A voice crept its way into her head. It was hungry, so, so, so hungry. Then, a brief period of relaxation came forth—the night. Sleep had warded off the voices. Unfortunately, throughout the next day the images did not leave her. On the contrary, they grew from moderate distractions to full blown delusions. Reality mingled with fantasy and she was unable to distinguish the two. Her screams were forcefully muted from her own will power, so she would not disturb her neighbors, the Witwicky's. It was only after her loss with fatigue did the images seem to dissipate, as if they knew if they were to allow her to sleep they could come back even _stronger_ than before. A split tone, demonic voice was the one manifestation she could not hold back.

_Oh, the fun __**we**__ are about to have, my dear._

_Yes, __**fun**__—no, wait. Who are you? Stop it!_

_I am you, my dear. You have just forgotten. We have had plenty of good times together over the eons, and now current events are slowly opening my cage that I have been trapped inside of for a great many moons. We will finally have fun together again…oh, the fun you and I will have once more!

* * *

_

Daylight. It came suddenly, and before Sapphire could realize it herself, she was standing tall, with her arms folded across her chest staring at the sunrise atop of the infamous, Mt. St. Hilary. The plague of images had finally let her be. For once in two days, her mind was completely under her control. The timing could not have been any greater. Today marked the day she anticipated all her life, and loathed. Today would be the day she would start acting like the being she sworn herself to become almost four months now—an Autobot.

Sapphire was so engrossed in her thoughts about her brother; she failed to notice an armored being stealthily land on the opposite side of the mouth of the volcano from where she was standing. He held an alien pistol in his right, clawed hand. The creature's tentacles on its head were squirming in anticipation. He would be the one to singlehandedly kill the being that could prevent his paycheck from falling into his grasp. He reveled in his dumb luck that he stumbled across _her_ this morning a moment longer. All he had to do was aim and squeeze the trigger, and all of his worries would be forever erased from this planet. He raised his weapon and sighted his scope at the very bottom of her head. It would be a clean shot: decapitation. His glee increased a thousand fold. A happy day it was. He squeezed the trigger…but nothing happened. He panicked. A force beyond his imagination already had him in his grasp far before he had come within rage of his target. It had only taken a spit second. The invisible force collapsed itself upon the alien in such ferocity, his internal organs instantly ruptured and burst through every orifice on his body. No one heard his brief but horrified scream of terror, before he exploded into nothingness.

Sapphire put up an invisible barrier that shielded her from the hunter's organs, and whatever else flew out of him. She did not move a muscle, or skip a thought when she killed the unlucky squid-like alien. She did not even bother to "clean up" the sticky mess she made. She would rather let the birds do that job for her. The stupid kid deserved nothing more than that. His actions were foolish, and it had cost him his life. A scowl formed on her face because Neco was the reason that foolish hunter had been killed, and why so many people died two days before, and why so many races and planets ceased to exist eons before today. Her brother deserved a death less than acceptable than the hunter she just killed. The animal within finally broke its shackles and it was finally free, and it needed to feed. _Oh free at last! The fun we shall have today, my dear!

* * *

_

The girls wanted to say goodbye to their father. That was why Sapphire took them in her Arwing back to Phoenix, Arizona. They spent a fair amount of time standing and staring at the casket that contained their father's remains as it was slowly lowered in the ground, along with several other caskets (including Tom's) at the Resthaven Park Cemetery. The service lasted a few hours and she felt that the girls had seen enough when they did _not_ cry when they saw their father's remains lowered six-feet under. They boarded her Arwing and departed to make their return trip back to Portland.

But something went wrong—horribly wrong.

Black—everything was black: Nothingness. Then, a bright light blinked into view. The dot of light grew until it consumed all of the darkness. The darkness became the light. Sapphire's vision was fuzzy, as if someone had draped a veil over her face, but it gradually lifted and soon she saw the sun shine brightly through the cotton ball clouds that were lazily drifting along the wind currents. She tried to sit up, but was unable to. She looked down and was amazed to see that her legs were pinned beneath a fragment of the right wing on her Arwing. She used her powers to lift the large piece of metal and cast it aside. She struggled to regain her stance but once she did, she finally was able to see that her Arwing was settled nicely into a thicket of bushes just outside a patch of the ancient red wood trees. A gouge of dirt trailed behind the rear of her crashed fighter aircraft for at least a quarter of a mile. Metal fragments were everywhere and so were some major parts of her craft as well. The right wing was totally gone, as were the two bottom G-diffusers. Her craft was totaled, but she had more important things to worry about. She remembered her two passengers.

"The girls!" Sapphire cried out. She scurried over to her wreck and threw pieces of metal that were in her way, over her head and behind her. She cursed loudly in many different languages, when she realized that her attackers had succeeded in their operation. The girls were gone.

Sapphire frantically climbed into her pilot's seat and repeatedly typed the same buttons on her control panel. "Come on, come on! Please work!" A whirring noise began to grow from her Arwing. Then, a bright green screen flickered into view over the panel, "Yes!" She smirked as the video communication radio began to transmit its signal to the Earth Autobot's headquarters. Blaster's bright, cherry red, dome filled the screen. He usually has some witty remark to say when he received any transmissions, but one look at her face killed that reaction.

"Whoa, Sapphire, what happened?" Blaster remarked in astonishment, "Your face—"

"Get Optimus, NOW!" Sapphire roared at Blaster. He yelped and jumped backwards from Teletraan's monitor. He needed not to be told twice. He opened up a com-link to his commander, and within moments, Optimus sprinted into the control room. He was flanked by Hound and Prowl.

"What's going on?" Optimus knew the severity of the situation by the look on Sapphire's disturbed face.

"He's got the girls, Prime!" Sapphire barked at the Autobot. She turned her head away and spat out a curse in a language she could not even name.

"What?" All four mechs yelled in unison. Sapphire twitched out of anger and her eyes flashed red. Her eyes belonged to a beast none of the mechs have ever seen before. They were alien, and they were in control.

"If any of you get in my way," The animal continued, "You will die." She cut the feed, and blasted off into the ocean blue sky. Her brother wanted a fight; he would be fighting the animal.

* * *

"Sapphire, no!" Optimus pleaded as the transmission ended. Blaster, Hound, and Prowl were still awestruck at the abrupt change of events—and a secret Sapphire had been keeping from all of them the entire time.

"What are your orders, Optimus?" Prowl hesitantly asked his shocked leader.

"It's a trap and she's walking blindly into it." He clenched his hands into fists. Then, he swiftly typed a few commands into Teletraan-1. A secret frequency opened up throughout all the Autobot forces on Earth. Out of his right index finger, snaked out a USB cable and it plugged itself into the nearest port on Teletraan-1. He opened up his own com-link and began to speak.

"Attention all Autobots, attention all Autobots!" Optimus spoke with total authority; every Autobot froze and listened intently on what their leader had to say. "Sapphire is walking into a trap, and will be facing not only her brother, but all of his bounty hunters, and all of Megatron's forces at the same time. I know she has told us to stand down, but she will be needing backup whether she likes it or not. All Autobots are to make their way to the Salt Flats where energy readings suggest Megatron and Neco's forces have congregated at. I'm transmitting the co-ordinates now." He paused, "Good luck Autobots." He unplugged himself from Teletraan-1 and the cable reeled itself back inside his finger.

Blaster and Hound looked at each other and nodded. Hound transformed into a Jeep, while Blaster transformed into the boom box and fell into Hound's passenger seat. The tracker skidded out of the control room with the communications expert. Optimus and Prowl remained. They stared each other down, neither moving nor backing down.

"I hope we are making a wise decision." Prowl stated as he too, transformed into a police cruiser and roared through the halls of the Ark. The Autobot commander transformed into his semi-truck mode and rolled out as fast as he was able to.

"I know I am."

* * *

**Author's Comments: Okay, so I think I need to stop killing myself by writing stupid long chapters…maybe ^^; Anyways, I hope all of mah readers out there are still reading and enjoying the show! I promise next chapter will be stupid awesome and chock full of VIOLENCE! YEAH VIOLENCE! 8D **

**So yeah, that's something to look forward to, right? Yes. :D A special shout out to my friends IRL who have kept me motivated to write this story! Claps to you all! :D **

**Oh, and yes, I've been using Mando'a here and there in this story X) So far I've used the following:**

_Osik- _"shit"

_Osik troan- _"shit head" (Such a potty mouth, eh?)

_Hut'uun_- "Coward! (Worst possible insult in this culture.) *EDIT: FIXED IT! This used to say damn it, but the real word for damn it is "_Haar'chak"._

_Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum- _"I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal." (Daily remembrance of those who have passed on followed by names of loved ones)

_Vode- _"Brothers, Mates, Comrades…"

_Osi'yaim- _"Useless/Despicable person"

_Te ram'ser – _The marksman/sniper

_Ret'urcye mhi- _Goodbye (lit. translation: "Maybe we'll meet again.")

**:D Hope you enjoyed this chapter (I had fun writing it) and please, R&R!**


	10. Intermission

Intermission

**"Lessons of the Dead"**

Am I really this ignorant? Am I really this stupid? Am I really _this_ soft? What have I become?

...What am I?

…

_You are a monster._

No, you're the monster! I am a living being!

_No. _

Shut up!

_I speak the truth. I am you, and you are me. But we are not opposites like two heads on a coin. We are something—greater. We are __**the **__darkness. Pure darkness. _

No, you're the darkness! _I_ am the light!

_Then why are you arguing with yourself? _

STOP IT!

_You continue to deny it. You __**know**__ what you are, my dear. Cease this charade with yourself. _

NO! I'm nothing like you!

_But you__** are**__me. _

NO!...No! No! No!

_The longer you keep on denying it, the more you become yourself. It's inevitable. You cannot escape your destiny!_

…

_They hate us. _

What?

_They don't love us. They don't need us. They don't __**want**__ us. They're just using us—like everyone else._

Never. They're different. All of them.

_Really? How can you be certain? They accepted you in their ranks because we have powers they do not understand. But they aren't fools. They don't want our power aimed at them. They want our power to help fuel their useless struggles. _

They are not using us—me.

_You slipped._

Shut up…They aren't like that.

_Then how do you explain why they always have us in front of everyone else when there's a battle? _

I'm in front because I can shield them from attacks. I can protect them.

_We are nothing more than their shield and sword to them: A tool. Once we are released on the battle field, we attack the enemy ruthlessly with attacks that are precise, clean, and __**deadly**__. They couldn't defeat their enemy because they are inaccurate, sloppy, and __**afraid**__._

…What are you saying?

_We are the ones fighting their battles! Why are we fighting their battles! They should be fighting their war, but NO! We just __**had**__ to get involved! Before I fully awakened, we fell for that ignorant medic on that asteroid. _

Leave him out of this.

_Or what? What will you do? Kill me? Ha, ha, ha! You can't kill yourself. If you do, then you will never be able to see your precious Ratchet ever again. _

Stop it…

_How did we plan to go about with this? A fleshling and a mechanoid? HA! That's hilarious. _

I said stop it...

_Does he "love" us? Do these walking piles of scrap metal actually__** have**__ feelings? How do you know if his feelings are real? They are only meant to adapt to their surroundings. Those filthy humans feast on feelings. A robot is not a human…he's just putting on an elaborate show for us. _

I know he feels something for me! You can never make me believe otherwise!

_My dear, what have our standards come to? He's not our kind! There's only one of us in this entire universe. We are one of a kind. We will always be alone. Friends are a pleasure we will be denied for all eternity. _

You're wrong.

_Am I? Remember all those cowardly "friends" and your bogus "family members" that have faded over the eons? Dead. Every single one of them, including Ratchet, will never last. We are cursed. _

Cybertronians can live forever.

_Then why have so many of them have perished? Nothing can live forever unless they are destined to do so. We, my dear, are the few destined to walk among the living forever._

I am the one who is alive. You are the one that is dead. You're an angry spirit that has been cursed to wander this universe for all eternity because of your dark deeds you have done in your past! I became part of you because my creator deemed having your powers as a part of me would be beneficial to his plans of galactic domination!

_Deary, you were never alive in the first place. _

LIAR!

_But it's the truth…_

I'm breathing right now. I'm not cold like a corpse. I'm listening to my own damn heart beat! A dead person _can't_ have these things!

_Just because you can feel your heart beat and your blood run through your veins, doesn't mean you're alive. You can be living, but at the same time be dead. We only have one purpose in this world of the living: To be a tool. Tools are not living. They are inanimate objects. We are not living._

Enough! I've had enough with you! I'm sick of listening to your nonsense. I wish you were dead.

_We __**are**__ dead. You can't remember because you never were born._

Shut up! I have a purpose in life: To protect those who need it.

_That's the Autobot's purpose. You are not an Autobot. Autobots are supposedly the beings from the light. You are darkness. _

I am not darkness!

_Then what do you call__your__** true **__self__**.**_

…

_You are a monster. _

_You are a monster of darkness._

_**We**__ are the monster of darkness…_

…

I am the monster of darkness…

I come from the clutches of hell, to wreck havoc upon the living…

I live a life of lies…

I can never truly become one of the living…

…

I am dead…

* * *

A/N: I had to get this out of my head sooner or later. This is-well, I'll let the readers figure out for themselves what this really is. ;)

This is an intermission chapter because I do not know if I'll be able to type up chapter 10 in time... *shrugs* Anywho, leave a message if you want to guess what this little blurb really means :D

~Peace, and have a happy Thanksgiving/Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/New Year's if I don't update before any of the major holidays~


	11. Chapter 10: Death

*Disclaimer: I do not own characters from Hasbro, GameFreak, Nintendo, LucasArts, etc. I own only this plotline/OC's.*

Also, if you are squeamish, well, you've been warned… because of this chapter, I will most likely have to change the rating on my fic from "T" to "M"

Chapter 10

"Death"

The desolate salt flats of Utah were a pristine spot to land space shuttles…and host the duel of the century. Neco versus Sapphire: Who would come out alive? Would either of them survive? Will _we_ be able to stop them? Optimus' questions would be soon answered. His tires were roaring like raging lions beneath his carriage. The dehydrated soil parted in a giant dust clouds before his racing semi-truck form. Optimus was trying to save his newest soldier…but deep down, he knew he would be powerless to stop the inevitable battle in the first place. He knew what it meant to give it your all in a battle, especially when your defeat could mean the destruction of the planet you call, home.

A flash of white lightning zipped past Optimus' hull. He locked on the source that fired at him, and realized it was one of Neco's cephalopod bounty hunters. They were swarming around the designated battle arena (the area was already riddled with craters, and gouged with troughs).

"Autobots! Transform, and take 'em down!" Optimus ignited a series of exhaust ports underneath his cabin. He propelled his vehicular disguise up into the air at full throttle. He disengaged from his trailer, and as it vanished into subspace. He transformed into his bipedal mode and skidded through the dusty ground below him. He pulled out his laser rifle from the subspace compartment on his back and fired it at the bounty hunter who fired at him. He scored a direct hit on the hunter in the chest. His rifle's blast almost ripped the hunter into two. He fell to the ground—dead. Ironhide appeared next to his commander, like the faithful wingman he was, and blasted two enemies with his liquid nitrogen cannon. He missed one, but managed to freeze the other's hands to his rifle. Mirage finished off the incapacitated hunter with a well placed shot to its head, completely incinerating the alien's slimy, green squid head.

Cliffjumper had already pinned one hunter on the ground as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were busy sparring with three other hunters to protect their shorter comrade. He was too engrossed by tearing the hunter to pieces—literally. Sunstreaker punched one hunter away, and thought his problems were over. But as the hunter fell, another one stood behind him, aiming his rifle at his chest. Sunstreaker lunged at the armed hunter, but he received a blast through his right shoulder. He stumbled back and cradled his shoulder. His internal systems alerted him that the blast had severed all the motor cables attached to his arm, rendering it useless. _Slag it! _

The hunter unsheathed a toothy grin, "Time to shut down, robot." He fired but his partner's torso flew into the path of the blast. As the hunter who fired stared in horror at his fallen brother, Sideswipe tossed something with a little more "punch" at him: A boulder. The heavy object struck the hunter in the shoulder, and caused him to drop his weapon. Sunstreaker dove for the rifle. He grabbed the black rifle, and somersaulted out of his lunge to shoot the hunter. The hunter pulled out two sidearm pistols and shot wildly at the twins. Two shots struck Sideswipe in the chest, but did nothing more than scratch his paint. Sunstreaker was not so lucky. Two shots hit his exposed neck cables and ruptured one of the tubes that carried energon throughout his body. The pinkish substance bled all over his chest. He turned off his pain receptors and fired again at the armed hunter. He finally killed the hunter when one shot partially took off the top of his head. Sunstreaker dropped the rifle and pressed his only good hand around his neck to minimize the bleeding. He coughed up energon as he fell to his knees. His brother was already at his side when he fell. He pressed his hand on top of his brother's to help stem the bleeding. The thick, illuminating substance bubbled between their fingers. Sideswipe felt a very human chill crawl up his spine. With his free hand, he opened up a com-link on his arm to Ratchet.

"Ratchet! I need you! Sunstreaker's hit!" Sideswipe urgently yelled at the medic.

"I see you! Hold on!" Ratchet kicked away the hunter he was trading blows with. He transformed into his terrain mode, and sped towards the twins. Laser fire ripped through the air around him, and explosions coming from the two humanoids, overpowered his audios. As he approached the twins, Ratchet drifted and transformed on the fly, and skidded to a halt in front of Sunstreaker.

"Whoa, Ratchet, I didn't know you could move like that." Sideswipe commented in awe.

"You'd be surprised what years experience can do to a 'bot." Ratchet replied as he began an emergency patch job on Sunstreaker's neck. "Cover me, Sideswipe."

Meanwhile, halfway across the two mile long battle ground, Gears found himself in a scrap load of trouble. His bright, red-and-blue colored pickup mode stuck out like a sore thumb on the off-white terrain around him, "Slag this color scheme of mine! It's going to the deactivation of me!" He barked in frustration as three hunters were pursuing him via jet packs. They were peppering his back to hell; to the point where one more shot could potentially tear it off.

"Gears! Stay your course! The cavalry's comin'!" Jazz announced over a com-link while he and Prowl were racing, side-by-side towards the mini-bot, "When I give the signal, drift like you've never drifted in your life!"

"Are you kidding me? If I do, I might break myself in two!" Gears screamed back at the saboteur.

"Trust me!" Jazz and Prowl continued their course, pouring on the speed even more. Their engines were screaming as they raced towards Gears. They were on the path to collide head-on with their smaller comrade. Then, at the last possible millisecond, Jazz and Prowl started to transform, "NOW!"

Gears threw his parking break up, and drifted to his right—extending his rear out as a platform for the two SIC's to jump off of. Jazz performed a one-handed handspring off of his rear, while Prowl stepped on Gears' roof and lunged towards the hunters. Both Jazz and Prowl had their rifles in their hands, and fired at the three hunters. They tried to stop their pursuit, but were too late. All three dropped like flies. Jazz and Prowl tumbled on the craggy ground until they finally halted. Gears' tried to recover from the drift, but his top-heavy form flipped over onto its right side, and skidded to a halt. He shakily transformed and stumbled around to regain his balance.

"Thanks for saving my aft guys, but next time, don't jump on it!" The mini-bot huffed at his superiors.

"Does everything you do have to so, _extravagant,_ Jazz?" Prowl commented to his black-and-white friend as he double checked to see if the three hunters they slew were not playing, "possum"(as the humans call it).

"Of course! If you can't do it with style, then don't bother doin' it. You know me Prowl," Jazz took aim with his rifle at a hunter that was about fifty-yards away. The hunter was about to shoot Bumblebee in the back of his head. Jazz fired first, "I'm a stylin' mech."

The Autobots continued to fight valiantly against the alien hunters. Soon, the handful of hunters who remained suddenly retreated. Their rocket packs screamed as they quickly vanished into the rays of the afternoon sun. Optimus gave the command for the Autobots to re-group, but be wary of their surroundings. A scream diverted their attention—permanently—from Optimus' order. A pillar of white energy, thirty-feet wide and thirty-feet tall, was barreling through the earth towards the Autobots. They were powerless to stop the blast from obliterating their physical beings. Some accepted their fates, while others watched as their lives flash before their optics. The light was coming for them.

Before the light could swallow the Autobots, a tiny shadow blinked in front of the pack of mechs. The shadow held an obscured sword in both hands. She raised the blade of darkness over her head and brought it down with all of her might upon the white energy. The darkness cut the light into two, casting a harmless curtain over the Autobots. The white light danced and swirled effortlessly about the bewildered mechs. The sun's rays shone through the curtain of light, fabricating a rippling rainbow of light that tenderly wove through the mechs. The artificial aurora was like the mythical siren: Beautiful on the outside, but deadly on the inside. Although, the energy blast was diverted, the destructive power contained within was illustrated as the wild, cracking whips of energy lacerated the arid soil ruthlessly, as a flock of vultures strip the flesh off of an animal's carcass. The sporadic energy whips flogged themselves into ribbons of smoke, disintegrated into glittering particles of light when their power depleted. The figure strained to keep her sword from being knocked out of her grip for the duration of the attack. The Autobots could only witness a tool, oppose a great power.

The shadow being managed to hold off the flare of power until it finally faded into nothingness. She allowed her sword fall triumphantly to her left side. Now, the group of grateful mechs could see the obscured sword the figure held, was a pale-silver lightsaber. They shadow was not a shadow after all. The obscured figure was their extraordinary humanoid comrade. They all knew it was Sapphire who saved them, but the Sapphire they once knew, was gone. She was tainted by an evil locked away inside of all living souls. The darkness distorted their friend into a brutal fighter, with a savage heart, and an insane psyche. She peeked at her allies over her shoulder. Her comrades saw an animal. Her irises were scarlet, and her pupils were dilated into slits like those of a serpent. She held a scornful look upon her face and snarled at the mechs. All of her teeth had transformed into serrated daggers. This—_fiend_ was unlike anything they had ever encountered.

"_Usen'ye utreekove… _Leave this place!" Sapphire hissed at the mechs. She quickly diverted her attention back to her brother, only to be painfully greeted with his right hook. She spun backwards towards her _vode_: Her comrades. She felt her jawbone pop out of place as she skidded to a halt into Mirage's arms. She moved her jaw until it popped back into place with a loud _CRACK._

"Ouch." Sapphire growled at Neco. He held his position and gloated at his fuming sister.

"What's the matter, sister? Getting _soft?"_ His taunt carried a disgusting meaning. Sapphire pushed Mirage away and pulled out a dull black Beretta M9 out of nowhere, and fired four shots in less than half a second. Neco was hit three times out of the four shots. The first shot grazed his left cheek and left a nasty trail of seared flesh in its wake; the second missed, but whizzed past his head; the third went sailing through his left bicep; and finally the fourth went through his left shoulder, just above his collar bone. He dropped onto his back with a muffled thud, and a cloud of dust. His sister leapt up and over where he laid—thirty-feet away—and fired three more shots below at him. This time, he was ready and rolled out of the way before any more 9mm rounds penetrated his flesh. He rolled onto his feet and sprung up to meet his sister face-to-face. His body morphed before he made contact. His skull elongated into a wolf-like snout. His muscles bulged and ripped through his clothes like the Incredible Hulk when he "gets angry". Thick, coarse, jet black hair sprouted from every orifice on his body. More of black, matted fur fell wildly around his neck, and his head. His ears moved to the very top of his head and stuck straight up in the air like two arrowheads on a pair of sticks. Beady, yellow eyes flamed to life as they were tangled in his forest of jet black fur. Silver teeth way too big for his jaws sliced their way through his gums. Finally, equally colored claws, pierced their way out of the knobs of flesh, called his hands and feet. The remnants of his pants, and shirt, dangled like dead seaweed from his furry body.

Sapphire barely had time to react. She raised her arms to shield herself from the seven-inch long teeth, inside the jaws of steel, from crushing her skull. A costly close call, this would be. Neco slammed into her and sunk his silver daggers into her left forearm. She dropped her pistol and screamed in pain. The two plummeted to the arid ground, but he never released her arm. She took the brunt of the fall and the wind was knocked clean out of her. While she tried to regain her breath, Neco tossed his sister over his shoulder as far as he could—he stripped off the flesh in her left forearm. Sapphire staggered a cry as she flew through the air. She skipped across the ground and tumbled to a stop. Her arm was throbbing with unbearable amounts of pain, to the brink of bringing tears to her eyes. She had to see for herself how bad her arm was.

Boy, did she regret that.

Her arm shivered with pain as she brought it up to her sight. What were left on her arm were a few strands of muscle tissue, and her bones. Most of the fabric had been torn off as well, but what remained was soaking wet and dyed red. Sapphire reacted by tearing off the bottom of her shirt and used her "sixth sense" to tie the cloth around her bicep to stem the bleeding. With her good hand, she snapped her fingers together to create a tiny flame from her index finger. She used the fire to cauterize what veins and arteries that needed to be closed. The fight was long from over, and if she passed out from loss of blood, she could kiss her life goodbye. Sapphire could only grit her teeth and glare menacingly at her demented brother as she completed this agonizing process. She could see satisfaction in his beady, yellow eyes from where she was standing. She glanced once more at her trembling arm. Her face contorted into a snarl. _So, this is how you want to play? _She funneled her rage at her brother and released a roar of frustration. Neco howled in anticipation of his next kill. His eerie howl sounded like dying walrus, and a dying wolf mashed together into one sound. It made the hairs on Sapphire's neck stand up.

Neco galloped in a clumsy gate towards Sapphire. She dropped onto her four limbs, and morphed into a beast whose bark is said to make volcanoes erupt. Her injury disappeared in this form, but the pain still remained. Her entire body grew layer upon layers of long, silky, brown fur. Her hands and feet transformed into three-toed, grey paws. Just above each paw were black, metal cuffs. Her face flattened, and a three pronged, yellow crest grew where her snout should have been, to the top of her forehead. A pair of three pronged, crimson red facial armor appeared beneath the yellow crest, and the end closest to her mouth extended to the bottom of her jaw. As if there were no such thing as enough facial armor, a silver mouth guard appeared. The final piece of armor looked like an angular "C". It too, extended all the way down to the bottom of her jaw. A jagged, silver breastplate stuck out just a smidgen beneath her furry chest. On her back, there were dull, gray, spikes that cradled what can only be described as a living "cloud". The cloud wriggled from the back of this beast's head, and past its hindquarters. She released a fearsome roar that boomed for miles and miles upon end, like shockwaves radiating from an earthquake. No wonder why this beast is said to make volcanoes erupt. Neco's charge was halted from the deafening roar. He skidded awkwardly to a halt and howled with pain as his supersensitive eardrums burst.

Sapphire launched her attack. She charged the pained werewolf creature. Her new form was incredibly agile for its bulkiness. In a blink of an eye, she was already on top of her brother. She slammed into her brother and sunk her canine teeth into his right shoulder. He yelped and raked his claws across her face to retaliate, but to no avail. The many facial guards on her face proved their worth as his attacks scratched harmlessly across. Neco thought if his claws could not do the job, then he would have to try his jaws. Sapphire released her grip and savagely headbutted his gaping mouth before he could find out. Her armor helped her once again. She chipped, shattered, and plain flat out, knocked most of his front teeth out. This made him desperate and _furious_. He thrashed his arms and legs wildly around and slashed his sister's shoulders to hell. Her underside was safe thanks to her breastplate. Sapphire wanted to save her shoulders, so she broke off on her attack and leapt off of her flailing brother. He performed a kip up to meet his sister's sight. Blood dripped endlessly out of his mouth and over his fragmented, silver teeth. His beady, yellow eyes engraved murder into his sister's.

"_Oh yeah, he's angry."_ Sapphire thought to herself. She braced for his next attack. Neco roared and launched a high speed beam of lavender energy from his badly damaged mouth at Sapphire. She reacted by sending forth, a trail of fire from her mouth. The two attacks met and exploded into a stomach churning, cloud of charcoal colored smoke. Sapphire's vision began to blur from the acidity of the smoke, but she quickly realized that smoke should not be able to impair her vision because of her beast's "volcanic" origin. The world around her started spinning and she desperately tried to catch herself from tipping over like a drunkard. The infamous "tunnel vision" crept over her sight. Her muscles in her legs started to spasm, and her back legs gave out. She had no choice but to fall to the ground.

"_Poison…"_

"Poison my dear sister," Neco snarled in a bass voice, "is an effective weapon in combat." He morphed back into humanoid form. His pants were torn a little bit, but his jacket and undershirt suffered the most damage. He stalked closer to his shivering sister. "It can bring down the strongest of foes within seconds. I'm afraid you are going to die, Sapphire." He held out his right hand, and a red aura started to gather and form the shape of a weapon. The light shot out four-feet and materialized into a vivid, red colored sword. Multiple one-foot long spikes also materialized, and lined the side of the sword. An elaborate, frosty, silver trimmed handle materialized as well. It had four metal guards that arched over the handle. The handle itself had a black grip, and at the very bottom was a seven inch long silver spike. Once the sword fully materialized, he gripped the handle and brought the tip of the sword up to Sapphire's face. He smirked. "However, this poison is only meant to disable you. If I am to become the true ruler of Cresita, I must kill you myself." A warning flag went up in her mind.

"Cresita..?" She wheezed out between her labored gasps for air, "What's that?" She needed more time.

"You fool! You still haven't remembered your past yet?" Neco furiously shouted at his sister. He swung his sword across her face, leaving a terrible gash in her face plating starting from the top right edge and ending just below her left eye. Sapphire did not move; she felt nothing.

"Cresita _is_ your home world!" Neco roared into her face. Sapphire continued to stare blankly at her brother. She could not believe it. The truth had been right under her nose this entire time. He slashed her face again, creating an "x" on the center her face. This time the one of the sword's spikes became momentarily stuck in her armor. Her head was snapped to the right. "If I want to rule Cresita, I have to kill you first! Then all that _power_ will be mine!" He started to laugh uncontrollably, "I'll have enough power to rule this entire universe!" He threw his head back and laughed hysterically to the heavens. Sapphire's eyes narrowed. She bought herself enough time to locate the poison inside of her. She purged the poison using her psychic powers. Her senses returned to normal, and she was no longer "disabled". She moved quickly. She charged up a large purple fire ball and launched it point blank at Neco's chest. The purple fire dissolved his sword immediately, and set Neco ablaze. Only, he did not move. He did not scream. He did not even seem to notice he was on fire. Instead, he rose up twenty feet above the ground. His eyes glowed green and he smiled devilishly at his sister.

"Thank you so much for the added power, sister. You see, any sort of fire that hits me, is converted into energy." He curled into a ball of fire. "The more energy it has," The fire vanished, and suddenly, he uncurled. A massive shockwave of green energy rippled throughout the air for miles on end. Sapphire was blown from her feet, and flew through the air. She tumbled to a halt. The blast even hit all the Autobots. They were sent toppling head over heel into the desert. Neco laughed once more. He remained in the sky and addressed the clouds, "Decepticons! I think it is about time you join in on this fun! Attack the Autobots and bring me the girls!" Megatron came storming out of the clouds with a furious look on his face. He held the two crying girls by the cuffs of their shirts.

"We will do no such thing! But you can take these insects!" He threw the hapless girls at Neco. The girls screamed as they were free falling in the sky, but the crazed Cresitian caught them with his telepathic powers. The Decepticon leader lingered on, and the rest of his army came down from the clouds as well to back him up. They all held the same expression as their leader. Neco scoffed at their futile attempt to disobey his command.

"Then you've chosen a painful alternative!" He reached out with his hands and his mind and grasped all the Decepticons by their throats. He then, shot a wave of electricity through their bodies. All their optics flashed white and red from an overload of energy. Their bodies flailed as all of their inner workings overloaded all at once. The Decepticons' were slowly being destroyed, from the inside out. Sapphire was disturbed that Neco enjoyed seeing them in so much pain. The crying and wailing forced Sapphire to act. "Enemies" or not, something had to have been done. _He's stealing all of our fun…_

"It's a shame, Decepticons," Neco's eyes burned wildly with a green aura, "I was going to use you as my soldiers, but now it looks like I'm going to—hmmpf!" Neco's head and neck were suddenly wrapped in a thick, strong, green vine. Sapphire had morphed her right arm into the large vine. She tightened her grip to the point of crushing his neck and his skull. Going by that incentive, Neco released all the Decepticons and the two children. The Decepticons all fell to the ground with a collective _THUD. _Sapphire quickly caught the crying humans with her mind before they splattered all over the salt flats. She then proceeded to spin him once in the air and violently, slammed him face first into the ground. She released her grip and returned her arm back to normal. She used her telekinetic powers to bring the girls back into her protective arms. Once the girls were back in her grasp, she quickly flew towards the Autobots (they had recovered from the pulse attack, and were sprinting towards Sapphire on foot). She did not make it to the Autobots in time. Another blast of white energy zoomed over her head. On the fly, she tossed the girls as gently as she could to the ground. Simultaneously, she transformed into a twenty-five-foot tall, bipedal, white furred beast. It had a sickle shaped black horn jutting out on the right side of her head. An equally colored scythe-like tail appeared as well. On each paw, there were three massive razor-sharp claws. Two blood-red irises with white pupils flared to life. The only difference about this beast compared to the one before, was this: Two, coal black, seven-foot long blades extended from each elbow. She swung around to meet another energy blast she sensed. She reacted by brining both blades down on it, and cutting it into half—but it exploded in a dazzling display of golden flames on contact. The explosion sent her crashing into the Autobots.

Neco peered down at the girls who were sprawled out on the ground. He gazed upon them as a raptor eyes its prey from high above. He smiled. He could not let the chance run away from him. He extended both palms out in front of him and began charging up for another attack. Optimus failed to notice the humans, but he did detect a massive energy source above him. He knew none of his soldiers could survive an attack from Neco.

"Autobots! Fan out, quickly!" All of his soldiers had already moved out of Neco's sights before Optimus issued the command. Everyone moved except for Mirage. He happened to notice the two girls. The girls saw him and he beckoned them to run to him. The frightened humans scrambled to their feet and they started to run as fast as their legs would allow. The girls were still twenty yards away from the white-and-blue mech. Neco took his sweet time creating another ball of white energy. He was waiting for someone to notice. Sapphire pushed herself off the ground when she heard the whirring of her brother's attack being powered up. She quickly whipped around to see who was in his sights. Her heart sank. She was at least twenty-five yards behind Mirage. She could only save either the mech or the girls. The ball of energy was fully charged. She had to act now. Time moved in slow motion.

Sapphire, still in her beast form, sprinted as fast as she possibly could towards the girls. Neco launched the ball of swirling, white energy at the three beings. Optimus was screaming at Mirage to get out of there. Mirage had pulled out his photon rifle as a sign to Neco he would not be destroyed without a fight. The massive sphere of energy tore through the ground as it barreled its way towards its targets. The girls held their hands together as they ran desperately towards Mirage. He looked down into their frightened eyes. His spark had jumped up to the back of his throat. He could not bring himself to look at the teary-eyed children. He could not save them. He could not save himself at this point. He gazed into the ball of white light that was approaching him at breakneck speeds. The girls screamed at Mirage. He wanted to look, but a powerful force had struck him. Two long, muscular, white arms pressed against his chest and back. He saw his world topple to the right and out of the way of the attack. He was tackled so hard, his optics went offline for a few seconds. All he heard were the desperate screams of the girls—then they stopped. He knew why. Everyone did.

Mirage's optics flicked back online. He saw he was lying on his side and Sapphire was on top of him. She was staring at him with no emotion whatsoever on her face. The lack of emotion mortified him. He at least expected her to be furious at him for trying to be, "Mr. Hero" and save the girls himself. Why did she save _him_? He started to wonder if she thought more of Mirage than the two humans. Was he more valuable to her than them? How could she have let two innocents die? Why me? He was a seven million year old soldier. They were children. He saw nothing. Nothing was bad. Terror rose up on his face plates. He could not handle her hollow gaze any longer. Then, a strange sensation crept inside of him. An echoed voice whispered to him, _"Mirage… I'm so sorry. I wasn't fast enough."_ The voice sounded as if it was about to cry. The voice belonged to Sapphire. The blank stare remained on her face.

"You okay?" Sapphire flatly asked the spy. Mirage was perplexed by the opposite reactions she had given him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He responded in a trembling voice. He recalled how terrified he was the first time he met her, but now, this terror inside of him was something—primal.

"Get up, and _leave._" Her statement was not a command, it was a threat. She rose above him and the sun was to her back. All he could see was her imposing silhouette that suggesting he move now, rather than later. He scrambled to his feet and ran towards a relieved Optimus Prime. Sapphire turned her attention to her brother. He cackled at her. She clicked her claws together in frustration. The rage was building inside of her. He threw his head back and roared with laughter. "You're going to regret killing those two." She waited for him to make the first move. Once he did, the gloves would come off.

"Ha, ha, ha! Their screams make me smile. Oh, the high of killing beings close to you. They almost sound like the ones made by that weakling Verburyc warrior clan on Uur'a." Sapphire's blood froze. That was where she grew up—the place where all of her friends and family had been slaughtered. "Oh, did I touch a nerve, sister?" Sapphire's blank expression morphed into one that wanted blood.

"You…you were the one that killed everyone," Sapphire struggled to keep her voice under control. Her demon wanted to break out. _Please let's have some fun, my dear! It's been far too long…_ "You have caused me to wander this universe for over forty-two million years. I have searched across this galaxy for the culprit so I could bring him to justice!" Sapphire drew a deep breath and roared, "And this entire time, everything has lead back to _YOU!_" _He deserves it! You know it! I know it! We have discussed this many times before! He just gave us the best reason in the universe to have the fun! Do _not_ waste this opportunity!_ "_You…_" Her voice dropped. She gave up trying to fight the darkness; it had a valid point. She transformed into a seventy-two-foot long, serpentine, green dragon. It had a yellow double helix tattoo down its entire spine. The head of this dragon had two elongated horns above its yellow irises, and two below its fearsome jaws. The wings were nothing more than two short rectangular appendages behind its two, lanky, green arms. The three claws on each hand were clenched tightly together into white knuckled fists. The fearsome dragon called, Rayquaza, had set all of its rage upon the tiny Cresitian male.

"YOU WILL DIE TODAY, BROTHER!" She roared like a crazed animal and lunged with great speed towards her brother. She tried to snap her jaws on his body, but he zipped up into the sky to evade her attack. Sapphire only snapped her jaws on a clump of dirt. She spat out the dirt and fired an orange beam of concentrated energy from her gaping jaws at her brother. He dived down to avoid the blast, but his sister anticipated his move, and fired again. This time the blast barely missed him, but the heat radiating from the energy seared his skin. Neco was taken by surprise when the monster disappeared and then suddenly reappeared inches away from his face. She plucked him out of the air and before he could escape, she fired a beam of ice at him, encasing him in a block of ice. She then pitched him down at the salt flats—one thousand feet below. Sapphire charged up a large blue sphere of sparking energy from her mouth and fired it moments later. He crashed into the ground with enough force to leave a thirty foot wide crater in the arid soil. The blast that followed, doubled the size of the crater. Blue lightning bolts flashed wildly out of the crater until they depleted all of their energy. A large dust cloud had formed and obscured the crater. Everything went silent. Sapphire waited impatiently and roared again. She had finally, lost control.

A black blur shot out of the smoke cloud and slammed into her gut. Sapphire's breath was taken away, and plummeted to the ground. Neco had copied the dragon's form but changed the colors to match his liking. The dragon was now black, with red irises, and red tattoos. Neco screeched and dived after his sister. She recovered from her fall and flipped backwards to avoid being tackled again. She shot back up into the sky to gain some altitude. Her brother followed closely behind and fired the same orange beam of energy at her. She dodged by circling over the blast and fired another ball of electrified energy. Neco dived down, but used his tail to bat the energy back at Sapphire. She cried out as she was struck in the face. She was temporarily paralyzed by the electricity coursing through her body. Her brother seized his chance and dug his claws into her throat. She yelped and wheezed as she struggled to break free from her brother's grip. Neco only dug in farther into her flesh and electric blue blood oozed in between his claws and fingers.

Sapphire wrapped her snake like body around Neco's and she used her weight to drag both of them out of the sky. Neco realized what his sister was doing and ripped his claws out of her throat. He tried to break free by slithering his way out, but she denied him this chance. She clamped her vice-like jaws on his right arm and dug her diamond-piercing claws into his sides to prevent his escape. Neco began to panic, and thrashed his body in vain to shake off his sister. He slashed at her head with his free arm, and left terrible gashes across her snout. The ground zoomed closer and closer with each passing second. Neco was running out of options and ideas. Sapphire remained latched onto her brother, refusing to let go even as their speed maxed out at 200 miles an hour. The two still had thousands of feet to fall, but at the speed they were traveling at, their free-fall would not last long. The wary mechs below them scattered into multiple directions to avoid becoming collateral damage. Neco cried out as the two gigantic dragons crashed head-on into the salt flats. Their impact created a massive crater roughly three-hundred feet wide and roughly two-hundred-and-fifty-feet deep. Smoke and debris were so thick; no one could see the massive crater, let alone their contents. Both the Autobots and Decepticon forces re-grouped and gathered outside the massive debris cloud hanging over the crater. Their sensors were being disrupted by all the debris and dirt in the air, so they grudgingly waited for the interference to settle.

Tensions rose to the breaking point in the ranks of both factions. They wanted to know if their greatest hope had fallen, or their greatest threat had perished. Someone had to be the victor. They could not fathom the idea of a stalemate with the powers these two possessed. Someone _would _die, eventually. Rumble was the first to snap. He sprinted away from his "father", Soundwave, towards the hidden crater.

"Rumble: Return to previous position immediately." Soundwave warbled at his most rebellious creation.

"I want to see who won!" Rumble shouted over his shoulder as he was swallowed by the opaque cloud of dust and dirt. Frenzy wanted to go after his glitch-head brother, but Soundwave held him back. Everyone fell silent, and waited for Rumble to report his findings. He scurried over chunks of rock-hard soil until; he reached the crest of the crater that contained the two dragons. The dust was thicker on the inside and it clung all over Rumble in little clumps. He had to continuously wipe off the sediments on his visor to prevent any permanent damage from occurring. He peered down the pitch black hole, trying to see if he could make out an outlining of one of the two aliens. He got down on his hands and knees to try to get a better view, since his sensors were still being scrambled by all the sediment in the air. The piece of hardened dirt he was crawling on started to crack.

"Uh, oh…" The dirt clump crumbled beneath him and he screamed as he tumbled out of control down to the bottom of the pit. He only saw the darkness spinning all around him, until his back slammed into something _solid_. He groaned as he tried to figure out why his feet were dangling in his face, and what exactly it was he ran into. He got his answer when the solid wall behind him twitched and began to move. The energon pumping inside of him ran cold. He knew now what it was he ran into, and he prayed it was the female. He quickly flipped himself over and quickly backed up to where he thought the edge of the pit was. Only, he did not back into dirt, he backed up into a cold, serpentine, body. This one was not moving. Rumble quickly spun around to see which one he backed into. He leaned in and whipped away some more dust from his visor. He froze. The body was green. "Slag it!" Rumble whispered very loudly to himself. He started to shake the massive body to wake it, "Come on! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" He did not want to be alone in a pit with low visibility with a giant, killer dragon. He dared to glance over his shoulder and saw the shadows move. The sifting of dirt beneath a snake-like body scared the wits out of the mini-cassette tape. Rumble did not bother to keep the desperation down any longer, "Wake up dragon goddess! Help me!" More sifting of sand, this time it was louder. Rumble started to climb onto the dragon so he could at least try to scale his way out of the pit. He clawed at the dirt desperately trying to find a grip, but he was only covering himself in more sediment. A low, beastly, growl made him cease all movement. He slowly turned around, and looked into the blackness. He stared into iridescent, blood red eyes, staring into his soul. Rumble screamed like a terrified, six-year-old girl. The other mechs awaiting his return were startled by his outburst.

"Rumble!" Frenzy screamed and reached out to the black cloud. Soundwave still held him back. A faint scraping noise came within the cloud. A tiny, square object flew through the cloud and bounced towards Frenzy and Soundwave. The object rolled to a stop in front of the aforementioned mechs. Frenzy carefully rolled the block over with his foot. He dropped to his knees and stared at the block. It was Rumble's head. His _brother's _head. He stared at his brother's frightened expression. Soundwave knelt down next to Frenzy and picked up Rumble's head. He too, stared at his frightened face.

"Danger: Unavoidable," was all Soundwave warbled. Neco shot straight up and out of the massive debris cloud. He held his bloodied head high and released a victory roar that chilled mechanical bodies to their sparks. They knew they did not stand a chance if Sapphire could not. Neco's head was missing patches of skin and some were so deep, the bones on his cheeks, jaws, and snout showed. He was missing strands of flesh all over his body as well, but those were his only wounds he received that were visible. He more than likely suffered a few broken bones here and there, but no one was concerned about his well-being. The Cybertronians were too busy worrying if they were going to live to see the next sunrise. Some Decepticons (Starscream) were fleeing like the cowards they are, but no one was frowning down upon their reaction. Many wanted to do the same, but they knew if they did, no one would dare to confront him.

Neco eyed the Cybertronians as a tiger eyes its next meal. He descended onto the arid ground below him. The remaining Decepticons and Autobots drew their weapons and began to fire at the black dragon. The blaster fire bounced harmlessly off of him as he slithered closer and closer towards the mechs. He hissed wickedly at his prey and selected his first two victims: The Autobot and Decepticon commanders. He snatched his two targets as they were firing furiously at his face and neck trying to find a weak spot on his armored body. He scoffed at their pathetic attempts and raised them both over his jaws full of serrated teeth. He dropped both commanders into his gaping jaws. He was going to savor their flavor—only two dozen left to taste. But before Neco's prey fell into his throat; his body was suddenly yanked away just in the nick of time. The two mechs could hear the clacking of teeth behind their backs.

Neco flailed in surprise as he was no longer in control of his body's functions. He started to bash his head against the ground repeatedly, and claw his body like a dog digging for his buried bone. Then, his body rose over the lingering cloud of dust, and slammed back down into the rock-hard ground—twice. Electric blue blood shimmered vividly on his black skin as he was once more, picked up by the invisible force from his abdomen. His body snapped high into the sky, through the puffy clouds above. The cloud of dust split into two, and finally revealed the enormous crater. Hovering above the crater was none other than Sapphire. She held the lifeless body of Rumble under her right arm while her left hand was extended out in front of her bowed head. Her scarlet colored hair draped in front of her face, partially obscuring her eyes. They were faintly burning in a pale blue light. She looked defeated. Her shirt was shredded and matted with wet, mahogany blotches. Some spots had already crusted over. A black undershirt was revealed and it too, had been ripped away, revealing portions her stomach and left side. The skin had been torn off, but dull, silver metal plating was where muscle and tissue were supposed to be.

The metal replacements were also on portions of her right side and stomach as well. Her intact arm had pieces of cloth dangling from her elbow, and wrist. Silver plates of metal were shimmering in the gaps on her arm. Her palm was missing all of her faux skin, and it too, was made of metal. Finally, on her face, more patches of the mysterious metal plating were showing on her left cheek, forehead, and chin. The right side of her head had smears of blood streaming down, and dripping onto the ground below. She also had the cuts that formed the "x" across her face, the holes in her throat, and the rest of her injuries she sustained in her beast forms. She raised her head and held a stoic expression while casting her eerie gaze off into the horizon. She shakily lowered her arm, but her eyes were still emitting the pale blue light. Soundwave approached the ridge of the crater with Frenzy following closely by his side. The cassette deck was cradling Rumble's head. She slowly, moved her gaze away from the horizon, and to the pair of Decepticons. The three never spoke a word. Sapphire tossed Rumble's body at Soundwave. The former caught it and without warning, turned on his heel and walked away from the female hovering over the massive pit. Frenzy scrambled to catch up with his creator, but paused, and looked back at Sapphire with a confused expression. She looked up into the sky above her head.

"Your brother will live." Sapphire never moved her lips.

Frenzy allowed a smile pass over his facial plates before he ran off to Soundwave. Sapphire ignored Frenzy's reaction to her comment. She locked her vision on Neco's form as he quickly raced into view. The light in her eyes slowly turned red, and the intensity of the light grew the closer her brother's form came. Her face changed too, into a scowl, then, into a snarl. Sapphire raised her arms, and flattened out each palm to the sky. Her brother had morphed back into his humanoid form and he was diving head first at his sister. An orb of red light flashed around her briefly before it disappeared from sight. Neco crashed into the invisible barrier. The orb re-materialized and began to spark wildly all over its surface.

Sapphire's left arm flopped uselessly at her side, but her right remained steady. Neco continued to ram his face into the sparking, red, barrier. His sister continued to hold her ground. The sparking energy from the barrier started to attack its assailant. Neco was slowly being forced away from the barrier. He tried to keep a neutral expression, but the barrier was proving to be too much for him to handle. Sapphire uttered a battle cry and pushed up with her only hand. The barrier encasing her shattered into thousands of shards. All of the energy it stored from Neco's attack was released back at him. He was sent toppling through the air. He fell unglamorously onto his back fifty-yards away from his sister. She lowered herself to the edge of the crater and began to stalk towards her moaning brother. As she dragged her weary body towards her target, she reached around to her left hip and grasped something invisible. She pulled up on the invisible object. The curtain of invisibility was lifted, revealing the chrome colored hilt with a black grip. Six, off-white spikes encircled each end of the chrome colored handle. A small, red button and an even smaller silver button were on the grip of this chrome hilt. Sapphire rotated the silver button with her thumb until it clicked. Then, she pressed the red button and a blade of silver light shot out four-feet towards the ground. The blade hummed quietly in her hand. She flipped her lightsaber around in her hand as she drew closer to her brother. He saw her weapon, and struggled to stand up again. He held out both of his hands and two more, four-foot long, spiked, red blades materialized into thin air. Neco smirked and chuckled at his sister's enraged expression.

"You haven't changed, sister. Still the ruthless fighter I once knew." He crossed the tips of his blades in front of his face, and golden sparks flew from contact. He spun both blades around his body and froze with both blades aiming at his sister, "Your move."

"You're still a psychopathic murderer," Sapphire mentally spoke. She smiled wickedly, and twisted the red button counterclockwise until it clicked. Another blade of light snapped out of the other end of her lightsaber. "You haven't changed one bit yourself." She spun her dual-sided lightsaber in between her fingers as she continued to walk forward. Neco growled and began to trot towards his sister.

"It's a shame you lost an arm," Neco pumped his legs faster and faster, "I thought this final duel would be more of a challenge!" He charged his sister who made no effort to dodge his attack. He thrust both of his swords at her chest. Sapphire stopped her advance and swiped her blade across the two blades of red steel. _Vhoosh_. The red steel blades were sliced off just below their handles. Neco was stunned to see he was only thrusting forward harmless, singed handles. He could not stop his momentum and his sister took advantage of his rash move. She slashed his left arm off just below his elbow. Then, pivoted on her heel and struck his jaw with a spin kick. He lost his grip on his useless handles, and stumbled backwards. He fell to his knees and grasped his elbow as if his life depended on it. Lucky for him, a lightsaber's blade will on contact, cauterize any opening for blood (in this case) to come spewing out.

"You bitch! You cut off my arm!" Neco roared at his sister with uncontrollable rage. She just smiled impishly.

"We're even now." Sapphire lunged forward and plunged her blade into Neco's chest, just below his heart. He gasped and stifled his breathing. His sister's face was only inches from his, "You were a fool challenging me, brother. I don't leave those who deserve to die, alive." She twisted her blade and yanked it out from his chest. He fell backwards onto the ground, gasping for breath. She called upon a mystical power she mastered from the same planet where she learned to wield her sacred weapon of light, to pick up her defeated brother. She forced him to gaze weakly into her demonic, red eyes.

"You've taken away everything from me!" Sapphire mentally shouted, her face replicated her emotions, "My _family!_" She slashed off the rest of his right arm, "My _friends!_" His left arm was next, "My _memories!_" She sliced off both of his legs with one sweep of her lightsaber. Neco screamed every time she dismembered a limb. Now, he was just a torso with a head. She whipped her arm around once more to decapitate him, but she stopped inches away from his neck. She was breathing heavily from exhaustion, and loss of blood. Her sight was beginning to blur but she ignored the suppressing feeling that was slowly, overtaking her body. She was not finished with her brother. _Yes! Make him suffer! It feels good to be alive again!_

"You've killed billions of innocent beings from all corners of this universe!" She flicked her index and middle finger out, and his dismembered body went sailing through the air. Sapphire disappeared into thin air, and re-appeared behind her brother's flying body. She leapt ten feet into the air and simultaneously tossed her dual-sided weapon into the sky. She flipped into the air, and brought both of her feet down just as her brother's body passed below her. He was struck in the chest and knocked back into the ground. Sapphire landed over his body and leered at him. She raised her metallic arm into the sky and her lightsaber landed neatly in her palm. Everything fell silent once more, and all that could be heard was a faint humming noise. Seconds passed and neither being moved. She continued to glare at Neco's defeated form. He twitched and wriggled sluggishly. Sapphire clicked the red button on her weapon and both blades retracted back into its hilt. She tossed her weapon to her side and it rolled to a stop on the dry, crusted, ground. A large shadow encased the area; it was a passing cloud. She averted her gaze to the cloud.

"Let us finish this in the rain." She held up her index finger and a tiny blue ball formed at the tip. The ball blasted up into the cloud. The white, fluffy cloud instantly changed into a dark, grey color. The grey cloud expanded quickly, and engulfed the sky as a hungry whale sucks up a massive school of krill. A rumble of thunder was the catalyst to the artificial thunderstorm. Rain poured relentlessly on every being in the area. The rain started to wash off all the blood on Sapphire's face. The rain streamed down her metallic arm. The rain soaked her being down to the bone. She gazed up into the massive rain cloud. Bolts of lightning were lighting up the darkened sky like fireworks at night. A smile of pure delight implanted itself on her face. She started to chuckle, and it grew into a full-fledged laugh of ecstasy. _Freedom at last! Oh, how long has it been, my dear?_ Sapphire laughed harder; she laughed like a psychopath. Her brother managed to lift his head to see what it was his sister was laughing uncontrollably at.

"Do you know how long it has been since I've felt _free?_" Sapphire started, as she still gazed up into the weeping sky, "Eons!" She snapped her head back at Neco's body. Her pupils were narrowed into tiny slits. She twitched with every move she made, "But you!" She pointed an accusing finger at her brother's torso. Her crazy smile instantly, wiped off her face. "You have been living too freely for too long." Her eyes lit on fire with the red aura once more. Her hand fell to her side as Neco's body was violently dragged in front of her.

"Sister…you know you still need me!" Neco begged between his coughs, "I can show you where our world is!" Sapphire glare pierced his soul. He was staring into an empty shell. "Please, sister—cough—I am your blood-brother!" He desperately shouted out. Blood started to seep out of his mouth. Sapphire raised her right palm to her face. Her fingers started to morph into mini-vines with tips as sharp as thorns on a rose. They started to wriggle in anticipation. Neco begged, and begged his sister to spare his life.

"Cowards always beg. My family _never_ begged for mercy on Uur'a. They taught me how to deal with a _hut'uun_ like you," The five, pointed vines whipped out and impaled Neco's head. A flash of lightning lit up the sky with a white light. _CRACK._ The vines pushed on his skull, until it popped like a balloon. Fluids splashed onto her face, and arm, but they were quickly washed away from the rain. His de-limbed body fell lifelessly to the muddy ground. A boom of thunder rolled over the area. Her bloodied vines retracted back to her palm and became fingers again. She stared apathetically at the slashed torso. Blood was pouring out where his neck should have been. Vultures had been patiently waiting from afar and a few ventured out in the downpour to circle around the area. Sapphire deemed his body was too rotten, even for the vultures to feast upon. She made a fist and when she opened it, a green flame appeared in her palm. She blew on the flame and it floated serenely in the air and landed on Neco's remains. It caught ablaze and began to burn it to ashes. She blew four more flames and they found their way to his other limbs. Sapphire turned and ambled her way back to the crowd of mechs who were horrified at what they witnessed. She stopped and laughed to herself.

"Fire doesn't hurt you, eh?" _Boom._ She continued her rainy trek back to the robots. With each step a hunk of mud stuck to her shoes and her tattered pants. Megatron and Optimus just glanced at each other for a brief moment. They witnessed what would eventually become their fate: Sibling versus sibling. One would stand, one would fall.

Sapphire stopped ten-yards in front of the two faction leaders. She gave Megatron an evil stare, "I kept my word to you. Now leave." Megatron scowled at the injured Cresitian. The Decepticon leader knew she was severely injured, and maybe if he moved fast enough he could blast her into particle dust. Sapphire's eyes narrowed slightly. Another flash of lightning flushed the area white. A fifty-foot-long, segmented, metallic, snake monster loomed over his head. Scars from previous battles were littered all over the monster's dull, silver body. Long and flat appendages stuck out, like an apple stuck in an arrow shaft, on every other blocky segment. The monster's head was broad and flat, and had huge dagger-like teeth molded into its lower jaw. The lower jaw stuck out further than its upper. Angry, red eyes on this monster were set wide apart on its flat skull. The metallic snake monster glared menacingly at the Decepticon leader. Megatron stumbled backwards and just stared in awe at the fearsome monster. Sapphire slammed her arrowhead shaped tail, into the ground and roared in Megatron's face. Her blocky, white teeth used for crushing prey, were finally revealed. She slammed her jaws like the steel traps they were, and created a hair-raising screeching noise when her teeth scrapped against her upper jaw.

"Decepticons! Return to base immediately!" He leapt up into the air, and flew back to their sunken base, _The_ _Nemesis,_ located somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Thundercracker, Soundwave, Frenzy, Astrotrain, and all six Constructicons were the only ones who remained. They gladly followed their leader back to their base.

The gigantic, steel, behemoth watched with weary eyes as the Decepticons vanished out of sight. The rain continued to pound the area, and it did not appear it was going to let up anytime soon. Water was streaming off the jagged edges of the metallic snake like cascading waterfalls. A crack of lightning struck. Sapphire was back to her normal self. She was panting heavily through her nostrils. She glanced at the towering Optimus Prime. He gave her a look that signified he was about say something. She held up her metallic hand that still had blood washing off its fingertips. She let her head fall to her chest, and she sighed.

"Later…" Sapphire's world went black and she collapsed, landing face first into the muddy ground.

* * *

Sapphire could hear faint voices, but she could not decipher what they were saying. She saw opaque, blocky shadows moving all around her. Her head was pounding too much for her to focus what these shadows were doing. So, she succumbed to her weakness and blacked out for the nth time. Only this time, she could hear whispers inside of her head. Strange, _alien_ voices were whispering too many things all at once for Sapphire to understand. She only caught something about an eye, a black crystal, and…Sorika?

* * *

Sapphire opened her eyes and saw she was in a dark room filled with medical equipment. _No…it can't be!_ Sapphire tried to sit up, but she found out her arms, legs and chest were strapped down with metal restraints. "No! This isn't happening!" She stated to panic but a cold, scaly, two-fingered claw grabbed her right arm. Sapphire traced the claw up a slender arm, and to an aged, reptilian face. The reptile had blue, scaly skin. The scales under its eyes sagged considerably. A very thin, but long, white mustache was hanging off the snout of this reptile. Small, round spectacles sat on its snout. It had a long black cloak concealing the rest of his raptor body. She recognized who this ancient reptilian was: Her father back on Uur'a.

"Be still, my daughter. No one will harm you. The ones you call Autobots had to restrain you because you had to undergo surgery for your arm." Sapphire's head was reeling from confusion, and pain.

"Father, I saw you die! How can you possibly be talking to me right now? How come I can feel your touch, sense your life-force, and hear your voice? This doesn't make any sense!" Sapphire thrashed in her restraints. Horrific memories of her time on the asteroid were pouring back into her mind. She wanted to forget about those days.

"In time, the answer will reveal itself to you, although you may not like it." Sapphire wondered what he meant by that. "I must go now; the one called, Bluestreak is coming to visit you again." _Again?_ "Goodbye, my dearest daughter. You make me so proud." The ancient raptor blended into the shadows and disappeared from sight.

"No, wait! Come back! _Father!_" Sapphire screamed out her final word. She heard footsteps clank lightly against the metal floor. Bluestreak came running in the med bay and saw Sapphire desperately trying to break free from her restraints. He ran over to the berth she was lying on and felt for the button on the underside that would release her restraints. She kept repeating, "Father, father, please come back." Tears were welling in her eyes that had returned to their normal color. Bluestreak found the switch and pressed it. The clamps quickly retracted back into the berth. Sapphire stood up too quickly and tried to chase her father into the shadows, but her wounds proved to be greater than she expected. She collapsed, but Bluestreak caught her.

"No! Let me go! Father!" Tears came streaming down her cheeks as she tried to punch Bluestreak away from her. She was still very weak from her battle, and did nothing more than slightly dent his chest plating. "Father, I'm sorry, I couldn't save you before…" She was sobbing uncontrollably into Bluestreak's chest. She buried her face into his chest so he would not see how much pain she was in. She held most of her emotions back during the fight, but now, she was behind closed doors. "I was too weak…I failed you. I'm sorry…" Bluestreak knew why Sapphire had never given him strange looks when he went on his famous rants—she lost everything, just like him. His hometown, Praxus was a peaceful town before the Decepticons came and destroyed the entire city, and killed all of its citizens. He was the only survivor from the devastating attack. The attack was a demonstration to show what the Autobots at the time, were dealing with during the early stages of the Great War. But, just like so many other cities, _boom_! It was erased off the face of Cybertron. All his friends, Gollum, Buzz Shot, Zeta, were dead. His creator, Switch Blade was killed too. The one he thought he would become spark mates with, Bolt—she was dead too. So many mechs he loved and cared about were gone forever. His world was swept away from him, into a land of darkness. Sapphire endured the same thing. All of her friends, her family members were executed…by her own _brother._ He could never imagine Prowl, a mech he considers to be his brother, being the one responsible for all the deaths of Praxus' citizens. How could a brother do that to his sister? How could family be so cruel to its own member? How could anyone live with themselves after something that horrific?

Bluestreak was brought back to reality when Sapphire uttered a pained, feral roar. "I can't save anyone I love! They're all dead!" She cried harder into Bluestreak's chest. He held her tighter and he could not help but want to break down as well. He fell to his knees and started to cry, a single, blue tear of energon rolled down his cheek. "Father…father, please come back…I miss you…"

"Why did I live?" The two broken beings shared the same haunting memories, felt the same overwhelming sadness, and believed in the same devastating conclusion from their ordeals, "Why did I live? Why did I live…?"

* * *

********EDIT********** I didn't realize this when I posted it, but I named a planet wrong in this chapter... ^^;

**A/N:** Consider this as a late Christmas /New Year's Gift. Who do you think said the last line? Bluestreak, or Sapphire? *eyes reader* That's for you to decide. I really like putting these two together, good things just happen :D

YES! THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WANTING TO DO FOR LIKE, 2 YEARS NOW! *HAPPY DANCE* AHEM. What I mean is this: I'm really happy I finally made it to the final battle between Sapphire and Neco :D This battle's outcome has changed about 3 times…? ^^;

Yeah =P

ALSO, I'd like to apologize if the fighting scenes seemed…awkward. I wasn't really certain how to write fighting scenes, but I think I did my best. *shrug*… But I don't feel sorry for writing in all those gory scenes! :D

Please, R&R! : )


	12. Chapter 11

***Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Transformer, Pokémon, Star Wars, or Star Fox in this series. Don't sue me.***

Chapter 11 

"Longest Day"

"Yesterday's tragedy down in Arizona has sent shockwaves throughout the country and the world—," _flick_.

"—Worst terrorist attack since 9/11. Over 200 people are confirmed dead, hundreds more injured and missing—," _flick_.

"—Protesters from all around the country have gathered at the White House, and numerous city halls in—," _flick_.

"—The question is, who do we blame? Was it faulty—," _flick_.

"—What were those _monsters_ flying around—," _flick._

"—She lured those attackers to this world! If we get rid of her, then we'll get rid of them!" Sapphire hit the power button on the remote. She huffed and brought her legs up onto the oversized, worn out couch inside the Ark, and folded them under her body.

"_Yesterday's attack on the Intelligence Headquarters is all over the news. The Department of Homeland Security bumped up the Threat Advisory System to Severe after the attack. Some of the higher-ups think there will be more attacks on other Government buildings across the nation. Some have even dared to speculate across the planet." _Sapphire pinched the bridge of her nose with her right hand. Her left arm was heavily bandaged, and thrown in a makeshift sling. "Idiots. They will never see the entire picture even if it was hanging in front of their faces. Those hunters are long gone by now, I'm sure of it. Their source for their money is gone. If it were me, I wouldn't stick around. There's no point now." Sapphire unfolded her legs and stiffly, rose from the couch. She still felt the beating she received yesterday.

"Thanks _ori'vod,_ I see now karma's a bitch." Sapphire wore a pale blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. She also braided her hair into a single knotted tail that fell down her back. If she ventured outside, she made sure she would not resemble her _usual_ self. She refused to think what could be waiting for her if she were spotted by those pesky reporters, or those equally annoying paparazzi members. She scuffled out of the room, and slowly weaved her way through the halls towards the last place where she saw her father: The med bay. Even with Ratchet present at her side, she still felt a power hovering within those closed walls. She could not determine if the presence was recent, ancient, or perhaps, _within_ her. No. "_This cannot be happening. Not now, not ever. I will not allow it!"_ Sapphire was so engrossed with her thoughts, she failed to notice a certain orange mini-bot.

Brawn turned a corner and almost ran into the recovering humanoid. "Whoa, Sapphire, you should be resting right now. You're still pretty dinged up from yesterday." Sapphire grunted at him and waved the mech off with her good hand. Brawn paused. "Are you going to tell us the truth now?" She shot him an icy look. "Not to offend you, but sooner or later you're going to have to trust us, because we all trust _you_." Brawn pointed an accusing finger at her head. Sapphire sighed and waved him off again.

"I've kept many secrets my entire life for the greater good of others. There are things I have seen and done that are too horrific to repeat," She stared coldly at the soldier, "but under the current circumstances, it seems I have no other choice, unless I want lose the trust of my handful of allies on this mud hole." She shouldered past the orange mini-bot. "Be careful what you wish for, Brawn. You might regret it later on."

Brawn turned and gazed warily at the female as she quietly, walked away. "You think you're the only one who's done things they can't repeat? Look around you, Sapphire! You're not alone!" She silently disappeared from the view of the fuming mini-bot.

"Damn that girl," Brawn spat through his teeth, "she's just digging herself a bigger hole to die in."

"Ya really think she doesn't know that by now?" Ironhide spoke in his "southern" accent as he walked around a corner behind Brawn. "She's exactly like us: A soldier. We don't like ta talk about our experiences. Knowing and seeing what she can do makes ya wonder," Ironhide scowled at his oldest friend, "what _hasn't_ she done?"

* * *

Prowl being Prowl, was diligently filling out reports from yesterday's incident in his room/makeshift office he shares with his younger "brother", Bluestreak. The former was out on a patrol, and he had the entire place to himself. He did not mind the younger mech's company; in fact, he preferred it over the drone of silence that filled his quarters when the marksman was absent. But business was business, and he had reports that needed to be completed. Usually, when he fills out said reports, he can do so without allowing any other distractions to interfere. Write, sign, click, and repeat. Unfortunately, a pseudo-catatonic being was causing his insides to crawl with fear. He did not know whether it was the chilling battle he witnessed, or the November draft that had squeezed its way into his quarters. The chill of fear danced around him, taunting his patience to give way. This game of tubocat-and-micromouse agitated him to the point of screaming.

And there she stood in the dimly-lit doorway—motionless. Staring into the space behind him as if the SIC were invisible. Eyes as cold as stone, she was a killer in disguise. But who was real: The heroine or the assassin?

"You said you wanted to resume our 'talk', _remember?_" A faint beam of light from a crack in the ceiling, shone on the bridge of her nose. "You wanted to know what I was capable of at the time. You wanted to know all the facts, all the data about me. You wanted to figure out a way to counter attack me in case I wasn't on _your_ side." She paused, "that was _nothing._" Prowl tightened his grip on the data pad and the stylus he held.

"I am capable of things people can only imagine in their dreams. I can kill people without looking at them. I can kill people without being on the same continent as them," Sapphire's eyes pierced his soul, and frightened the mech in a way he had never before experienced. "I can kill people by staring at them." Prowl snapped his head up—she was staring at him.

"What are you?"

"I am."

"What?" Two words had never confused him in his life, until now.

"I exist because I do. I am what you see. I live to see the next day," She crept towards the mech, "and I will do whatever it takes to see that next day. Just like you, I have goals I must accomplish. Dying does not help in any way, shape, or form to accomplish my goals."

"It seems to be the case with most beings, no doubt." Prowl bit his lower lip plate, a gesture he thought he weaned himself of when he was a sparkling. He only did this when he in a nasty predicament. It was now or never.

"How can you be killed with all the powers you possess? The Decepticons will be asking the same question, and I believe—."

"I can't." Prowl's words were snatched from him.

"These powers are a blessing, and a _curse_." She turned and walked out of his quarters.

"Wait." She stopped at the doorway. "There's one more thing I must ask," She turned halfway to listen to his words. "What are your goals?" The humanoid turned back to face the air compressed door that led to the hallway.

"I need to see my daughter's eyes again." With that, she phased through the door and disappeared from sight. Prowl's mouth hung from its hinges.

"_Daughter?_"

* * *

Sapphire knew there would be only one way out of this mess she was in: Tell the honest-to-God truth about everything. She called forth a meeting with all the Autobots who were in the Ark, at the time. Her audience was Bluestreak, Bumblebee, Brawn, Hound, Ironhide, Jazz, Mirage, Optimus, Prowl, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Skyfire, and Sunstreaker. The mechs crowded into the control room were awaiting the story they were about to learn.

Sapphire had seated herself in one of the chairs in front of Teletraan-1. Her head rested on folded hands and her back faced the alarmed Autobots. The room was still as a lake in the early hours of a pristine morning. No one moved, no one spoke, no one felt safe. The seconds ticked past. Tensions were rising and the mechs could only wonder if this meeting would end up in a massacre.

"Since the beginning of time, all sentient life has evolved to stay alive; to live and see the next day." Sapphire lifted her right hand and clenched it into a fist. As she slowly loosened her grip, a shimmering, aquamarine orb of light poured through the cracks of her fingers. She swiveled around to face her audience. "What you are looking at is an evolutionary step in the long process of life." The orb exploded and simultaneously, blinded and engulfed the entire room with its grace. All the mechs shielded their optics from the blinding light. When the light dimmed to a bearable level, they saw thousands of images and short video clips spinning all around and through them. The images were of Sapphire's life seen through her eyes.

"I'll start from the beginning I've only known." She waved her hand to the right and thousands of images mimicked her motion. All the images disappeared from sight except for one. A three-dimensional image of a green planet with swirling, pale yellow clouds floated its way to the center of the room. "This planet was called, Uur'a. A planet covered in mountains that towered over the famous Mt. Everest, forests whose trees were as grand as the Red Woods, and an ocean that had more life in one square mile than all the oceans of this world." The image zoomed in on one section of the planet until a village, whose architecture resembled a town built in the renaissance period, filled the screen. The village was built on the side of a towering, snowcapped mountain, and it spread into a lush, green valley for miles on end. A grand castle with four spires surrounded a massive, hourglass-shaped central structure. The castle _floated_ above the cliff of the mountainside overlooking the village. "I lived in this village with my adopted family, the Verburyc . They were the warlords of this city, Shi'yayc. My father, Achi'bat found me in a crater on the outskirts of Shi'yayc when I first landed on Uur'a. I believe I was seven, but I don't remember how or when I arrived." The image of the village zoomed in on a hillside on the outskirts of the village. A blue skinned, raptor-like lizard was seen hunched over a twisted, ebony cane. He had a pair of vibrant, emerald green eyes, a pencil thin, white moustache. A pair of gold framed, round spectacles sat on his narrow snout. Finally, a long, flowing, purple robe danced around his slender frame. The robe was embroidered with golden symbols of the written language spoken on Uur'a. A tall, cobalt colored, vase shaped tree with sky blue, triangular leaves drooped over like those of a widow tree, stood behind the elder reptilian male.

"My father taught me everything I know about warfare, combat strategy, and how to be a leader." Dozens of brief "videos" of Sapphire learning how to fight with wooden staffs, swords, and rifles flashed by her audience. "But the rest of my family was skeptical of his liking towards me, especially my _mother._" A flash of a slender, magenta colored reptile of the same species as Achi'bat became the central picture. She had fire-red eyes that struck fear into the hearts of those unfortunate enough to gaze into them. She also was wearing a dark green robe with the same golden pattern on it as her husband. "My mother was a ruthless warrior queen. If she did not like someone in the village, or if someone looked at her wrong, they would be beheaded by her own claws." Multiple clips of the same female raptor illustrated how she slashed and bit relentlessly at the throats of her theropod denizens in the village. Once she finished toiling in her bloodbaths she created, she held up the heads of her victims and crushed their skulls with her bare hands.

"Dear Primus…" Sideswipe muttered to himself.

"I agree," added Sunstreaker.

"She was brutal because she was corrupted with the love of power. She wanted the throne for herself and was waiting patiently for my father to die. Killing another family member in this society was viewed as the greatest evil one could ever bring upon themselves in their lives. Unfortunately for her, my father knew about her plans and knew that if she were to become the queen of Shi'yayc, the village would fall into a state of depression. He loved his people too much to let that happen." A clip of Achi'bat was brought forward and he was signed a slip of paper and handed it to what seemed to be a scribe or a servant of his. "He created a will stating, everything under his power would go directly to me." A clip of the purple dinosaur bumped out the previous clip. The female dinosaur was throwing golden plates and chalices across what looked like a suspended dining table. She roared towards the ceiling in frustration and stamped out of the room. "My mother would not stand for this kind of 'betrayal' as she called it. She planned to kill me and my father, but failed, _multiple_ times." Multiple clips of assassins dressed in full black body suits were seen with daggers, swords, and strange, double barreled rifles, attempting to kill Achi'bat and Sapphire. All were slain by the two.

"Then one day, my mother frustrated with her minions failures. She attempted to kill both of us herself." A clip of Sapphire and Achi'bat enjoying some sort of tea on a balcony in the floating castle faded into view. Then, from above, the purple theropod dropped into view holding two, serrated long swords. She rushed swords first trying to impale the king, but Sapphire leapt over him and unsheathed her two short swords she carried on her back. She blocked blow after blow from her mother, and cried out for her father to run for help. The mother was advancing relentlessly against her "daughter" and slowly pushing her closer and closer towards the railing of the balcony they were on. The mother was screeching profanities and cures at Sapphire in her native tongue. "My mother failed." Sapphire's back was against the balcony and her mother charged at her one final time but Sapphire evaded her lunge by sliding through two of the posts on the rail lining the balcony. She held on for dear life while her mother sailed over the railing and plummeted through the clouds to her death on the mountainside below.

"With her death, peace could finally ensue…" All the images spinning around the sphere suddenly stopped, "…then _he_ came." Several clips exploded out to the epicenter of the sphere. They depicted the destruction of Shi'yayc. Some clips showed the village on fire while others revealed the close ups of the theropod citizens of Shi'yayc being attacked and gutted alive by an enormous black furred werewolf. The muscles of the beast were clearly seen through the long patches of the black fur. The beast was Neco_._ "My brother came to Uur'a and slaughtered my people. He was unstoppable. None of my father's armies stood a chance." A clip of Neco using his psychic powers to tear the castle out of the sky was shown to the Autobots. The castle's spires rolled down the mountain side and flattened sections of Shi'yayc. Finally, the main building soon fell, and it took out half of the city in a cloud of dust and debris.

"That sick fuck captured me and threw me into a cage like a rodent, and paraded around Shi'yayc looking for anyone I was close with on Uur'a. He made me watch them all die." Hundreds of images of her father, friends, and family were seen in the ruined streets of Shi'yayc being be-headed, de-limbed, and _eaten_ by the monstrous werewolf. Her father was the last to be murdered by her brother. His limbs were torn off by Neco in his beastly form and then, gutted alive. What was left of him were blood stained bones stuffed ungraciously in a scaly, crimson bag of flesh. He ripped out his heart and brought it up to Sapphire's face. Neco stuffed the heart down his bloodied throat.

"Once he finished with Shi'yayc, he decimated the entire planet. He burned every village, city, and forest. He even poisoned the water on the planet, including the oceans. He killed my home world and left me for dead on it." One final image remained in the sphere: An image of land once filled with towering teal forests and jade grasslands faded into a burnt wasteland, with the blackened tree trunks and auburn fields of ash. The light in the sphere vanished, and the entire room became as dark as night. "The innocent child I once was died that day. I no longer felt joy or happiness." A pair of red eyes lit up the center of the room, "From that day forward, I felt only hate. My hatred for the person responsible for killing everything I had ever known at the time unlocked the powers I have now." The bluish light faded back into existence. "Since that day, I have roamed the galaxy searching for the person responsible for the destruction of Uur'a. I've visited many planets learning thousands of different battling techniques, such as my proficiency with my lightsabers, rifles, hand-to-hand combat, piloting skills, and so forth." Thousands of images of Sapphire were seen with her many teachings, trials, and test runs with her lightsabers', long range weapons, close-combat missions, and flying lessons throughout the universe. "I have visited many planets and systems in my life." She paused, "I've even visited Cybertron before." All the mechs visibly flinched.

"When did you visit Cybertron?" Optimus boldly asked.

"A time before your war with the Decepticons, I believe." Sapphire clenched her right hand again and the sphere of her memories collapsed back into her fist. When she opened it, the ball of light had vanished. "The reason I was there was—not good. I was originally there to participate in the underground circuit of fighting rings to win some easy cash."

"You participated in the Gladiatorial Arenas? " Prowl blurted out.

"Yes, I did. I was a mercenary at the time and I needed some extra cash to keep up the repairs on my suit, weapons, and my stolen spaceship. I won very easily down in those pits. I battled for few Earth years until, a Cybertronian named Shockwave offered me a deal I could not refuse at the time." She turned her back on the mechs and placed both of her hands on Teletraan. Her head fell to her chest and she and released a heavy sigh. "You may not like what I'm about to tell you, but realize that I am not the person I once was."

"What the slag did that frayed wire called Shockwave, want to do with you?" Skyfire angrily barked at the humanoid.

"He wanted 'volunteers' for his research. I was assigned to get him his test subjects. He offered me twenty-thousand credits per subject. Cybertronian credits were worth a lot across the galaxy at the time."

"Y-you brought innocent mechs to that psychopathic glitch?" Bumblebee was horrified. Sapphire turned to face the yellow scout. Bumblebee saw no sadness or regret in her stone-cold eyes.

"Yes."

"How? Do you have any idea what that fragger did to mechs?" Bumblebee could not control his emotions.

"I didn't care what happened to those I brought to him. When you're a mercenary, you do the job, get the money, and never let emotions get in the way of anything you do!" Sapphire bitterly replied. She bit her lip and continued. "It's a tough life, but I had no choice at the time. I got the money, and he got his subjects. We were both happy for a while," she pinched the bridge of her nose, "until, he asked me to do something I wish I never did."

"He offered me over three million credits to help aid in the destruction of a city on Cybertron. He never told me why, but he told me if I did this, I would get the money, all the weapons his faction would find in the city, and unlimited resources to do anything I wanted. I was still searching for the bastard who took away everything I had—and now, I finally had a chance to find him. I didn't care about the money, or the weapons. I was so hell-bent on satisfying my cravings for revenge, I was willing to destroy am entire city to fulfill my goal." Sapphire shook her head. "It was one of the worst decisions I've ever made in my entire life. Not only did I say yes, and carried out the task, I got nothing but Shockwave's cannon in my face. His use for me was gone, and he wanted to 'eliminate my variable from his equations.'" She gazed at the dull and scuffed floor plates in the control room, "I cut off his cannon and then his head." Ironhide faintly chuckled in joy, but remembered a key bit of information the female alien had deliberately left out. "I vowed to never set foot on that planet again." Silence.

"Do you know what city it was called—the one you destroyed?" Optimus, again, bravely asked the female. Sapphire kept her mouth shut and continued to stare at the floor. "Did Shockwave tell—,"

"Yes, he did." Sapphire irately cut in.

"Then tell us what city it was." Optimus demanded from Sapphire.

"One of you will hate me for the rest of your lives." Sapphire murmured.

Everyone waited.

Finally, after a great pause, she gathered her courage and gradually raised her gaze from the dull and dreary floor. She focused her steely gaze on one mech. "Bluestreak, I'm so sorry. The city was Praxus."

* * *

The younger mech's spark stopped beating. His jaw fell, as did his emotions, and they fell _hard._ Bluestreak's past had haunted him for his entire life. Demons were always a constant threat, waiting to consume his soul whenever he let himself become vulnerable. Like now. He struggled to keep himself from collapsing to the ground in front of everyone. Prowl came to his side and gently gripped his right arm. Prowl knew his disturbed "brother" had to leave the room right now, before his emotions overcame his judgment.

"There's nothing I can say that can bring back everything I took from you that day. If you hate me, I do not blame you." She turned her back on the mentally crippled mech, and faced Teletraan's gigantic reflective monitor. Bluestreak snapped. He jerked his arm away from Prowl's and subspaced his white photon rifle. His rifle had never missed a target before. Today, he refused to taint his record. He fired. The bullet of concentrated energy burnt the air around it, and sped towards Sapphire's head. She tilted her head ever-so-slightly to the left, and the bullet only razed her right cheek. Her flesh burnt like a crisp all the way to the bone. The photon bullet left a smoldering hole in Teletraan's control panel. Bluestreak flung his rifle at Sapphire, but she stopped the rifle in mid-air with her psychic powers, and tossed it aside.

"You fragging bitch! It was you?" Bluestreak screamed at the red-haired alien. He tried to grab her, but Ironhide, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe stopped the infuriated mech from murdering the girl with his own servos. The three struggled to restrain the younger mech as they pushed him out of the control room. Bluestreak was spitting horrible curses at his comrades for stopping him, and at the one who has caused him to experience so much sorrow in his life. Prowl quickly followed the four outside. The doors hissed together, muting the screams of Bluestreak. The room was deathly silent. The only sound that was heard was the humming of Teletraan-1. Sapphire placed a hand where Bluestreak's stray bullet had sliced through. A pale green aura dimly lit up her hand, and partially lit up the section of Teletraan's damaged control panel. A few seconds passed, and she gently removed her hand from the bullet hole. The hole was gone, as if it never existed.

"I have names." Sapphire muttered to everyone in general. "Give me a data pad and I'll write them down." Jazz happened to be carrying one of the blue tablets at the time; he stepped forward with a solemn expression and handed the device to her. Sapphire scribbled down dozens of names as fast as she could. When she finished, she gave the data pad back to Jazz. He hesitated to grab the list of names, fearing the worst. The saboteur eventually folded to his curiosity, and took the device from the female's hand. Jazz read the list very slowly, retaining all the names of those who met gruesome deaths in the hands of a sick minded Decepticon.

He read them silently and mouthed their names, _"Backlash, Razorfang, -Razorclaw's brother? Dear Primus-, Goldeneye, Bounce, Zig Zag, Chromia, -please not Ironhide's Chromia-,Turbo, Killoton, Sentinal unit number 649,-Damn, one of the Old Sentinal Units too?-, Bulldoze, Sound Blaster—,"_

_Sound Blaster. _"Primus…No…" Jazz's visor flicked off and he sulked towards the entrance of the room. Before he reached the doors, he paused, and turned towards the smallest Autobot member. "Sound Blaster was my younger brother." Sapphire's head rose slightly and her back became rigid. The iciness in his voice was clear. He was the first to leave. The data pad was handed throughout the mechs present in the room, and one-by-one, they all left.

"Was this Chromia blue as the sky here on Earth?" Ironhide savagely demanded Sapphire to answer. She was still facing Teletraan's reflective monitor. Ironhide grabbed Sapphire with one servo and slammed her on top of the control panel. Ironhide made sure she could see into his optics. Sapphire scowled at the soldier. He slammed her once more into the control panel, and brought his face only inches away from hers, "ANSWER ME!"

"She escaped." Sapphire's words were strained because Ironhide was slowly crushing her in his grasp. "I helped her escape. She said she didn't want to leave her mech all alone in this dark universe." Ironhide released his vice-like grip and towered over the injured female. "She was the last one I was supposed to give to Shockwave."

"Why didn't you help the others?" Ironhide impassively challenged.

"Because my need for revenge was more important than the lives of strangers." Ironhide slugged Sapphire. She flew towards the Autobot commander. She skidded back first across the control panel on Teletraan. A few knobs and keys tore out of their sockets in her wake. She flipped head over heel and landed face first on the aged metal floor in front of Optimus' feet.

"Ironhide!" Optimus barked at his senior soldier. The two mechs glared at each other, neither one were willing to back down. The red mech growled at his commanding officer.

"Ya sure ya still want her now, Prime? Even after all the slag she's caused us?" Ironhide pointed an accusing finger at the crumpled form beneath his figure. Sapphire raised her head and shot up ten-feet into the air. She pointed an equally accusing finger at Ironhide.

"You son of a bitch, not only did I saved her, but I've saved your sorry ass _twice!_" She flew right up to Ironhide's face and screamed some more, "I was a different person back then! I have _changed_! I'm not some greedy, self-centered fuck that goes around killing people for fun like I used to!" Ironhide's optics were still burning with hatred, but he did agree with her last statement.

"Ya may have changed, but that doesn't change what ya have done ta us!" Ironhide stormed out of the control room leaving Sapphire and Optimus alone. She opened her mouth to say something intellectual, but she decided against it. She was defeated. No more could she try and fight the truth: She helped kill innocent Cybertronians for her own self-gratification.

"I should have never brought up the subject. None of this would have happened if I just kept my stupid mouth shut." Sapphire bitterly remarked to herself.

"The truth must eventually come out, Sapphire. You made the right decision today." Sapphire shot Optimus a confused look.

"The right decision? Are you sure about that, Prime? I just told them I handed over dozens of _your_ people to their deaths! You call that a right decision? _No!_" Sapphire chocked, "I should be put to death for what I've done in the past. Damnit Prime, I practically killed Bluestreak. He's a good kid, and didn't deserve to be put through the shit I forced him to go through."

"We all make mistakes, Sapphire, but we have to know how to right a wrong. That is what you must do now."

"I can't bring beings back to life. That's the one thing I don't do." She tenderly touched the gaping wound on her right cheek and winced. "I deserve this wound on my face; I deserve every bit of hate the guys have thrown at me. I brought it upon myself. I carry around with me the deaths of every being I have killed with my own hands, or the ones I've lead like lemmings to their deaths." A single tear rolled down her right cheek. "They don't know what it is like to be _evil_." Sapphire floated down to the floor. She scuffed her feet towards the air compressed doors. _Hisss. _The door slid open. Before she went her way, she addressed her leader once more. "Optimus, why have you spared me?" Her eyes were cloudy and dull, reflecting the emotions she felt.

"You are not the person you think you are, despite the crimes you have committed. Revenge is deadly force to be controlled by. You have killed few Cybertronians compared to the millions Megatron and his forces have slain. Your judgment has already past. Living with your actions was your punishment. As I said before, _you_ must take initiative to settle the discrepancies with the others. Killing you would only cause greater harm to my soldiers." Sapphire took a moment to ponder what her leader told her.

"Thank you for giving me a second chance, Optimus." Sapphire indifferently responded. She nodded courtly and hustled out the doors. _Hisss_. The doors closed. Alone was she in the hallways of the seemingly abandoned base. Sapphire sighed and held her cheek.

"I need a drink."

* * *

_Three hours later…_

Giggling: Hearing giggling from a child is one thing, but hearing uncontrollable giggling from a plastered young adult is another story. Sapphire was having, needless to say, a good time in the White Eagle bar in Portland. She had spent about twenty-five dollars on drinks already (and that was not counting the whiskey). She made the female bartender "forget" to check her identification to see if she was legal (although, she has existed longer than the human race), or ask why it looked like she lost a fight. Oh well, live life to the fullest as most people in the pub would say.

"No way!" Sapphire slurred out to an empty chair next to her at the bar. The White Eagle was haunted by some _apparitions_ and in three hours, Sapphire had met several spirits including the famous Rose and Sam. Presently, she was taking to Sam. "Dude, if ah were you, ah would've taken tha girl and ran. You deserved _so_ much more than this bar." Sapphire leaned on top of the counter and stared promiscuously at "Sam". The African-American waitress had her long, jet black hair pulled back in a ponytail. She walked back to the drunken female, and leaned hip first against the bar counter.

"How's Sam treating ya little lady? I hear he's quite the ladies man." The bartender smiled cutely at the intoxicated red-head.

"Oh, _Sam_," Sapphire dragged his name out in a drunken manner, "You're so much fun!" Sapphire hiccupped. "Ah wish you were alive. Yer _so_ much more fun than those robots ah hang out with." She giggled some more. Inside the bar, only a few people were present. Because of that, her drunken actions were merely ignored by the other patrons as she continued to converse with Sam.

A new customer walked in just then. New faces were always welcomed in the pub. The customer was an older male with graying, short, brown hair. His eyes were brilliant blue, and his weathered skin was accented by a well trimmed goatee. He was also wearing a pair of rectangular glasses with black frames. The gent was wearing a white undershirt, a simple grey long sleeve shirt with a black "bomber" style jacket. He was also wearing black slacks and black, suede dress shoes. Two red columns ran all the way down to his shoes on the sides of his pants. Oh, did Ratchet look _spiffy_ today.

"What's up doc?" Sapphire slurred as she flirtatiously patted the empty seat next to her (of course, not the one where Sam sat). "Ah hear you handle females with _extra_ care." Ratchet scowled and awkwardly sat next to his drunken friend. He had never seen her so over energized up before. He only prayed this conversation would not last long.

"Sapphire, I think you need to come back—," He searched for the appropriate word, "_home_." She just laughed at the hologram.

"Oh you party pooper! Ah was just having a civilized conversation with Sam here." She overly exaggerated the empty seat next to her. "Why do ah have ta go back? Ah obviously made the family members upset. Ah think little Johnny will never speak ta me again…a shame, really." Sapphire took a swig of the half empty draft of beer in front of her. Her voice lost most of its vigor, "he's a damn good kid."

_Just like old times I suppose…_"Actually, Johnny and the others want to talk to you." Sapphire's head spun towards the man, and gave him the classic clueless face. "Coltrane and Hellboy the most." If Sapphire were a machine, her head would be sparking from a processor meltdown.

"T-they really wanna talk ta me? Even after all ah said?"

"Sure do." Ratchet placed an arm around her shoulders and squeezed them a little bit. "You know, going out and swimming in alcohol doesn't solve anything. I hear it also can make people do stupid things too, if consumed in great quantities." Sapphire laughed lightheartedly at the medic. She gulped the rest of her glass and shook her head.

"No shit Sherlock. Ah know that." She leaned over and kissed Ratchet's left cheek. His face almost turned as red as the trimmings on his pants. "Stupid things, eh? Well, what'd ya make of that!" She tightly one arm hugged his shoulders, and rested her head upon his shoulder. She giggled some more. "Ah know ya love me, darling!" She scooted her chair as close as it could get next to Ratchet.

"_Keep it together, keep it together, keep it together," _Ratchet could not believe how— unchained this girl could be when she downed a few glasses. Still, what to make of that kiss? Oh how he longed to just sweep her off her feet and carry her to the nearest vacant room. But what use would that bring? She's an organic, and he's mechanical. Love is definitely more confusing than repairing a dismantled seeker.  
"_Wait, why the slag am I thinking about that? She can't be taken seriously right now. Primus, I must be getting old."_

"Come on, _darling,_" Ratchet emphasized harshly, "you need to come home now." Sapphire laughed some more and spun out of her chair. As she left her chair, she looked at the ceiling and snapped her fingers together. Dozens of coins rained down and she caught them all in her hands, and slapped them on the counter in next to her empty glass. The waitress rubbed her eyes and stared wide-eyed at the coins.

"Jesus, this place really is haunted." She scooped the coins off the table and put them in a special "tip" pouch on her hip. Sapphire giggled some more and turned her attention to Sam. She waved cutely to the empty seat and blew him a kiss.

"Buh-bye Sam! Maybe ah'll see ya around sometime soon!" Ratchet rolled his eyes and grabbed her shoulders and pushed her out of the establishment. Once the two were outside, they made their way to an ordinary white van.

"Get in. We need to talk." Ratchet opened his passenger side door for her. Sapphire chucked and hopped in—only to stumble back out again. She fell into Ratchet's arms and looked up at his not-so-amused face.

"Ah hope it's the kind of talk ahm in the mood for." She smiled impishly at the medic. Ratchet growled and sat her in his seat. The door closed automatically and the hologram zapped into the driver's seat. Sapphire reached for the seat belt, but the belt carefully strapped itself across her chest. Sapphire's giddiness faded. "Oh, so it's going ta be one of _those_ talks." Ratchet's hologram grimaced at her pitiful form.

"Look, Sapphire, I know today's been rough; for you and for some of the mechs," The engines started in the van, "but you can't just run off like that and go drown your emotions in alcohol. It's not healthy for you, or for everyone else."

"Is that what you really think? Or are ya just saying that ta avoid the obvious fact that ahm a terrible person." She leaned her head on her fist and gazed absentmindedly out the side window. The van began to pull out of the parking space and drive.

"You're not a terrible—,"

"Bullshit and ya know it." Sapphire shot the hologram a scowl. "Ah've told ya some of the other things ah used to do. Sure, none of it was about Cybertron, but let's be realistic here: Ah killed your people, Ratchet. And ah did so without thinkin' twice about it." She pointed at her chest with her index finger. "There's nothing that ah can do that'll compensate for what ah've done." She leaned back into the plushy seat and stared at the roof of the van. She closed her eyes. "Keep 'n eye on Bluestreak. If what ah heard about him is true, he could very easily screw himself o'er real bad."

"Yeah, I know," Ratchet grimaced from the awful memories of the first time Bluestreak tried to offline himself. He was haunted for many Stellar Cycles after the procedure he had to perform on the young mech to save his spark. He took a vibro-blade to his main pumps in his neck and tore them out one by one. By the time Prowl carried him into his medbay back on Cybertron, he was already in stasis lock. He could not have imagined the amount of pain Bluestreak endured cutting tube, after tube in his neck. The poor mech blamed himself being the only survivor when Praxus—.

_Praxus_.

"Now do ah make mahself clear? That kid tried to kill 'emself once. Ah'll bet my life savings he'll try it again." Sapphire rubbed her eyelids, "Ya got anything that'll sober me up? Ah need ta find Bluestreak."

"He's back at the base still. That's why I came—," A frantic, blinking red button on the dashboard cut the CMO off. His hologram pressed the flashing light. "Ratchet here, what's going on?"

"Ratchet? Did you find Sapphire, yet?" Bumblebee's frantic voice shouted through the van's speakers.

"Yeah, I was just—."

"Good! We need her tracking skills! Hound can't even tell which way he took off!"

"What?" Ratchet's hologram yelled into his speakers. "Are you telling me—?"

"Bluestreak's gone!"

"Slag it!" Ratchet hit his steering wheel, but his fists phased through it.

"We're reviewing all the security tapes just in case—."

"That boy knows where all tha cameras are at. He doesn't want ta be found." Sapphire rummaged through her pockets and pulled out her spare homing beacon for her Arwing. Ratchet's hologram snatched the device from her before she fiddled with the controls on it. "Hey!"

"You can barely stand, you're _not_ flying."

"Ass." Sapphire pouted. "Fine, then get us back to HQ, stat!" Ratchet floored it and weaved through traffic like a snake through tall grass. "Holy—doc, ah want to live, thank ya very much!" Sapphire screeched as she held onto the "Oh, Jesus" bar for dear life as the cars zipped only inches from Ratchet's frame. Sapphire gulped. She mentally kicked herself for drinking that last draft.

* * *

Prowl knew what Bluestreak was going to do. He found him the first time in his quarters back on Cybertron, barely functioning. He did not want to find him a second time _deactivated_. Hound, naturally, was the first one inside their shared quarters when Bumblebee reported to Prowl that his "brother" had disappeared. Bluestreak may not be his true brother like Smokescreen, but he treated him like one. He was always there for him whenever he needed his company, or whenever he needed to vent his frustrations. He has grown attached to the young marksman ever since he stumbled across his severely damaged body after the destruction of Praxus. Primus—he still cannot think about Sapphire's involvement with Praxus. If he were to do so, his logic chip would most definitely crash. Now, with Bluestreak gone, he has realized it will be just a matter of time before his emotions breach his firewalls. Then, all hell will break loose. He bit his lower lip plate again. He wished Hound could find some sort of clue to lead him to the whereabouts—.

Sapphire walked in.

Prowl's wings went rigid. _Slag_.

"Sapphire." Prowl forced out of his vocalizer.

"Prowl." Sapphire responded in kind. She surveyed the mechs' quarters and sighed. Hound was laser scanning the room for any traces of soil that could have been left behind in Bluestreak's footprints. The way his shoulders sagged, she could tell he was not going to find any. No footprints, no video footage, no traces of him anywhere in the ark. She rubbed her head out of frustration. Her head was still spinning from all the booze she drank. Thankfully, Ratchet had a special serum that eliminated the alcohol from her system. Unfortunately, the side effects were comparable to a hangover. At least she would not have to wait an entire day to feel the effects.

"Bluestreak definitely didn't want to be followed whenever he left. I haven't found any energy prints or tire tracks here or around the Ark. I can't even find his energy signature." Prowl clenched his servos together, and marched up to the tracker.

"Not good enough Hound. Keep searching. I want some answers _now_." Prowl felt a twang of pain shoot through his processer.

"Prowl, you should sit down for a little bit." Sapphire noticed the black-and-white mech's subtle reaction. "Hound and I can handle this. We'll find him. I'll make sure of it. I started this whole mess, and I'll be damned if I don't finish it." Sapphire had never been more serious in her entire life. She gave him a quick nod and joined Hound, trying to see if they could discover any clues to Bluestreak's whereabouts. She had the fire of determination within her eyes. Something most mechs would constantly tell Prowl whenever he had his mind set on a goal. This struck him as a quaint situation. Sapphire never ran away from her problems. She always challenged them head on, even if they had the potential of killing her. Then why, of all times, did she run away? She has been challenged by more difficult situations than this. Whatever force was at work inside of her thought process, he concluded it must run very deep into her history. There is no other possible explanation, and whatever this explanation is, she is _scared_ of it. What is she scared of? And why? Is it something she did? Too many questions filled Prowl's processor all at once. His logic circuit could barely take anymore of his questions. Meanwhile, Sapphire and Hound were still occupied with their search.

"Hound?" Sapphire called the green mech to her side, "what is this?" Sapphire pointed to several cacti plants sitting in a long, flat, steel pot, sitting on top of a windowsill.

"Those are just Blue's collection of Cactus plants. I don't know why he has them, but he takes care of them as if they were his sparklings."

"Can you scan all these cacti and see where they originate?"

"Not a problem." His optics shot out a blue, laser scanner, and he quickly downloaded the three-dimensional images of the plants in his processor. He accessed the internet and ran a search to find the names of the plants. He found out the species of cacti were a teddy bear cholla, a night-blooming cereus, a golden hedgehog cactus, and an Engelmann's prickly pear. "All these plants are all found in the Sonoran Desert in the United States of America." The two looked at each other.

"There's only one place in that area that's big enough to hide a twenty-foot robot." Sapphire spun on her heels and addressed the resting SIC. "Prowl!" He was startled by his own name, "You and Hound are coming with me in my Arwing. We're going to the Grand Canyon."

* * *

_Hours later…_

"I thought you said this scrapheap was fast!" Prowl complained to the tiny organic at the controls of the hastily repaired Arwing. He was on all fours and somehow, managed to scrape his dome next to where Sapphire sat in the cockpit.

"If you recall, Neco shot me down. I haven't gotten all the parts replaced yet, because this rock we're on doesn't have the technology available to repair or manufacture the parts I need. I'll have to go back to Space Dynamic's plant on Corneria to get the parts I need." The ship suddenly, dipped to portside. Sapphire pulled the two handlebar-like controls in order to stabilize the ship. She winced in pain as her left arm screamed at her for moving it while it was still healing itself. "Damn G-diffusers are a pain sometimes." She tapped a few commands on the control panel, and simplified blue prints of the G-diffusers sitting on top of the wings of her craft, appeared in front of her. She touched the two portside diffusers, and typed in a few more commands on the control panel in front of her. Slowly, her Arwing leveled out.

"You sure this thing can carry another mech? It's already cramped as is in here." Hound wiggled around trying to find a comfortable position to sit. His right leg was stretched out to the other side of the hull, while his left leg was touching his chest. He was leaning on one arm and trying to avoid being kicked by Prowl's legs whenever he shifted up front.

"You two will drive the entire way back if you don't shut up about my Arwing. I didn't modify this craft with twenty-foot robots in mind." She paused, "I think we could squeeze one more in the cargo hold." The two mechs sighed and waited impatiently for their destination to appear on the horizon.

"Prowl, you know this search will take a while, considering how big this place is—," Sapphire started but never finished when Prowl's hand slipped around her pilot's seat. "I'll drop you guys off at different ends and continue to search from the sky. I'm pretty sure my Arwing will have no problem going inside the Canyon—,"

"No," Prowl sharply interrupted, "You search above the canyon and radio us immediately if you see him. Hound and I will search where we are by our vehicular modes."

"Alright, but be careful. I don't want to haul you guys back in pieces. Ratchet _will_ kill me."

"We will."

Sapphire smiled when the Canyon, which can be seen from space, came into view. "Alright Hound, you're first. I'm dropping you off at the northern rim. You should have a much easier time navigating the terrain than Prowl." She guided her Arwing only ten-feet from the Canyon's ledge, and held her craft as steadily as she could with a bum arm. She pressed a bright green switch on the panel in front of her. A hatch behind the scout, opened like a sideways book. "Watch out for icy patches on the edges!" Sapphire shouted to Hound over her Arwing's hissing engines. Hound crawled his way to the edge of the opening. Before he jumped he gave the "thumbs up" to Prowl.

"If Blue's in this area, I will find him, Prowl!" Hound grinned and leapt headfirst out of the opened hatch. While falling, he transformed into his vehicular mode: A Mitsubishi J59 Jeep. His wheels kicked up rocks the size of softballs when his carriage dug into the rocky cliff edge. Primus, did Hound love that feeling. He loved racing endlessly on the untamed terrain on Earth. He loved the rocks bouncing off his undercarriage and the air swooshing past his mirrors. He felt _alive_. And he was going to bring another mech back with alive as well—_if_ he found him first.

Sapphire nosed up and raced as fast as she would dare, to the other end of the Canyon. Prowl watched Hound bounce into the mighty Douglas firs and the grand Aspen trees surrounding the Canyon's ridge, like proud, stoical soldiers, waiting patiently for the arrival of their beloved ones. He secretly wished for Hound to find him first. If Prowl found him first, he would not know if he should throttle the mech first or never let him out of his clutches again. He could only pray to Primus that they would not be too late. A few minutes later, Sapphire had managed to reach the southern rim of the Canyon. It was a whole new world compared to the northern rim. The mighty Douglas', and Aspens' were all but gone, and they were replaced with cacti of all sorts, and lowly shrubs. An ideal place for a vehicle, not built for an off-road excursion, to navigate.

"Okay Prowl, you're next!" Sapphire shouted over her craft's engines once more. She carefully held her Arwing steady ten-feet above the southern rim of the Grand Canyon. Prowl could not turn around in the cramped passenger compartment of Sapphire's Arwing, so he had no choice but to crawl backwards. "No use going by the humans! If I had to kill myself, I wouldn't let anyone else see me do it!" Prowl tightened his lip plates together and gave a swift, acknowledging nod to Sapphire. She nodded back, "I'll make this right Prowl, I swear it on my life." A smile crept across his face plates.

"Thank you." Prowl pushed himself with all of his might through the opening, and transformed, mid-air into a Datsun Fairlady Z police cruiser. Once his wheels collided with the rocky terrain beneath him, his engine roared to life. His wheels spat rocks behind his tailpipe and before anyone could say go; the cruiser had drifted into the shrubbery of the Utah Junipers and the yucca plants. Sapphire watched the police cruiser race into the distance from a monitor she brought up in her Arwing. The monitor locked onto Prowl's energy signature, and a blinking yellow dot steadily headed north on her monitor. Sapphire winced in pain as she pulled her left arm back on the left control stick. Her Arwing responded in kind.

"The things I do for people…" she mumbled under her breath. Once her craft was facing south again she pulled her arms backwards, and her less-than-steady Arwing lurched forward. She pressed a foot pedal that controlled the wing flaps and her craft slowly, nosed up into the sky until she had a bird's eye view of the grandest canyon of all. She figured if she were up this high in the sky, Hound and Prowl would be able to spot her if she suddenly dived down to land on one of the most beautiful sceneries she has seen since—since Uur'a. The canyon's vastness brought back so many memories of when she was a little girl; back to the only place she really called home. Memories of her father flooded her mind. Good ones and bad ones alike. She remembered the scenario oh so clearly: During the monsoon season on Uur'a, Sapphire decided to go play along the edge of the Shi'yayc Gorge. She was a foolish child, just like any other child of her age. She was alone except for a giant red-and-silver Autobot that had also wandered to the side of the cliff where she was playing—.

Sapphire blinked. "_Bluestreak?_" She slammed her controls forward and released the pedal beneath her foot. She dove so fast, she did not have enough space to pull out of her dive. To compensate, she had to pull out inside the Canyon. The missing gunner watched like a impassive soldier as the disfigured Arwing rose from the Canyon, and perched itself about an arm's length away from where he stood. White smoke coughed out of the landing gear's openings. The craft powered down in a drawn-out, whining decrescendo. The still, cracked canopy of the damaged craft, hissed open and a person whom, he had learned to hate with all of his passion, frantically scrambled from the pilot's seat like a scared sparkling that would run away from a Decepticon.

"Bluestreak! Wait! You don't want to do this!" Sapphire flipped off from the nose of her Arwing and landed inconspicuously behind the suicidal mech. Bluestreak's hands balled into fists and he spun around to meet the destroyer of his life.

"Yes I do! You took away everything I've ever known and loved in less than cycle!" Bluestreak screamed into Sapphire's face. Oh, how he wanted to stomp on her like the insect she was! How dare she, out of all people, come and try to _save_ him! "I've been dead since the day you came and destroyed Praxus! I've had no reason to live since then!" He choked up on his last sentence, making his threat less menacing than he wanted it to be.

"There's always a reason to live, Bluestreak! Look at me! I've killed more beings than the entire Decepticon Army, and I still walk amongst the living!" Sapphire ripped off her sling and tossed it over the ledge of the Canyon while she spoke. "If anyone deserves to live, it is _you_, Bluestreak. You must live so all the citizens of Praxus may live as well." She started to unravel her bandages on her arm. "You don't think I know what kind of pain it's like to lose everything you've loved or known? My fucking brother took everything from me!" Sapphire swallowed hard, "I lost my family, my friends, my home," she was almost done unraveling the bloodied tape from her arm, "and my _sanity_." Her final word slugged Bluestreak in his face.

"I was poisoned from rage. I changed into a monster; a monster incapable of feeling guilt or remorse for being left alive. I craved the blood of my murderer." Bluestreak's fists loosened their grip. "I searched the universe endlessly until I would run out of fuel in my spacecraft. I killed innocent merchants, traders, and even military patrols if they got in my way of finding my killer." Sapphire choked up and tears formed at the corners of her eyes. "I destroyed your city because it got in my way." She tore off the final strand of dressings and revealed her disfigured arm. All the muscles in her forearm were completely gone, and some of her bones showed through the thinner sections of the remnants of her skin. Bluestreak averted his gaze.

"No, you look at it!" She reached out with her right hand and jerked his head back using her psychic powers. He was forced to stare at an unnerving sight of stitched flesh and bone. "This is what you can lose if you are careful, Bluestreak! If you can't look at this, then what makes you think you can waste yourself away by jumping off this cliff?" Tears were streaming uncontrollably down her flushed cheeks. Bluestreak's mouth opened to respond, but nothing came out. He was speechless.

"I'm sorry Bluestreak. I'm so, so, so, sorry for what I have done to you. What burns a hole through my heart is that I can't do anything to repair the damage I have done." She released the mech from her invisible grasp, "I should be the one by the edge of this Canyon. I should be the one who should be dead right now." She dried each cheek on the arm of her sweatshirt and continued, "I killed my own _ori'vod_, my brother, Bluestreak. Could you ever hate Prowl that much?" Silence. "He's here right now, searching for you." The young mech's spark sank. He remembered Prowl was the one to find him on the floor of his quarters, bathing in his own energon. He never forgot that primal fear he saw on Prowl's faceplates that day.

"He refuses to lose you, Bluestreak. You're all he's got. Do you really want to make him suffer like that—_again?_" Bluestreak legs shook with uncontrollable fear. He never meant to scare Prowl as bad as he did back on Cybertron. He collapsed on all fours right then and there.

"I-I never want him to be t-that frightened ever again," Bluestreak whispered, "b-because of m-me." Sapphire stepped forward and laid her uninjured hand on the mech's helm. "I was s-so angry at you I—I forgot about h-him." A blue energon tear ran down his cheek and splashed harmlessly on the desert terrain below. He looked up, and a guilt-stricken look affixed itself on his young faceplates. Sapphire placed her forehead on his, and slowly shut her eyes. She started to chant under her breath. Bluestreak's curiosity got the best of him. "W-what are you s-saying, Sapphire?" She weakly smiled.

"Nothing." She opened her eyes and they were washed out with a green light. The green light transferred from her eyes into his cerulean blue optics. He gasped as his strength instantaneously returned to him. He stared in awe at the female, unable to process any kind of response. "I figured you would be tired from your long drive here." Bluestreak smiled and embraced Sapphire in a bear hug. She patted the side of his cheek with her good hand. After a good, long hug, she broke free from Bluestreak's embrace and sprang into the cockpit of her Arwing. She flipped open a communication frequency and hailed the two Autobots she brought with her.

"Sapphire to Hound, Sapphire to Prowl, do you copy?" No reply.

"Sapphire to Hound, Sapphire to Prowl, do you copy?" No reply.

"Sapphire to Hound, Sapphire to Prowl, do you copy?" No reply. "Oh come on you twits, answer me!"

"This is Hound, sorry about the wait, I had to clear some trees before I got your signal."

"This is Prowl, have you found Bluestreak?" Sapphire smiled and sank back into her chair.

"I found him, I repeat, I've found him, and he's okay. Prepare for departure guys," Sapphire started her Arwing's engines, "we're going home."

_Snap!_

The Arwing's starboard engine blew. Sapphire's eyes twitched.

"Sapphire, what was that?" Prowl shouted through his com-link.

"Of all times, why _now?_" Sapphire hit her control panel out of frustration and screamed. "My starboard engine just blew out! You two, I'm sending you my co-ordinates now. Get over here ASAP!" Sapphire powered down her Arwing and ran her right hand through her hair.

"So, are we stuck here?" Bluestreak innocently asked.

"Yeah," she sighed, "I hate Mondays."

* * *

Hound finally joined Sapphire and Bluestreak roughly, two-and-a-half hours later. Sapphire was busy trying to see if she could repair her starboard engine so they all could fly back to the Ark. She be damned if she would leave her Arwing unattended in the middle of a giant tourist trap. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side today. The same could not be said for Hound. He successfully contacted the Ark, and was assured that Skyfire would be arriving sometime within the hour. In the meantime, Hound sat himself on the ledge of the cliff, and enjoyed a breath-taking view of the sun setting on the majestic Grand Canyon.

Prowl skidded into view twenty-minutes later.

The SIC transformed and cautiously, walked towards Bluestreak. The latter did not realize the former was behind him, until he spoke.

"Bluestreak?" The black-and-white mech's voice quivered. The red-and-silver mech spun around and stared wide-eyed into his optics. He could not bring himself to utter his "brother's" name. The two mechs gawked at each other for a long while, trying to explain to one another how overjoyed they felt by being in each other's sight. Finally, Bluestreak broke the silence.

"P-Prowl?" The SIC suddenly had Bluestreak in a tight embrace. The young marksman was taken aback by his actions, but quickly recovered and hugged his brother even tighter.

"I thought I had lost you, Bluestreak," Prowl whispered into his brother's audio. "Please, don't do this again. Don't—," Prowl's voice cracked and he could not speak anymore. Bluestreak pulled away and smiled.

"I promise." Prowl smiled and squeezed Bluestreak's shoulders as a sign of sheer happiness. As the two were about to discuss the details from the day, Skyfire's engines faintly echoed across the area.

"_Now_ it looks like we're going home." Sapphire commented happily to herself as she appeared between Bluestreak and Prowl. The female looked at the two mechs and smiled. "I told you we would find him, Prowl." The latter smiled gently at the alien.

"Thank you, Sapphire."

"It's the least I could do." She shifted her gaze onto Bluestreak. Her smile faded and was replaced by a frown. "Bluestreak, I—."

"It's okay Sapphire, I forgive you. I learned that you may hate someone for what they've done in the past, but you can love them for the good they've done in the present." Sapphire smiled with a great sadness in her heart.

"Thank you, Bluestreak." She bowed slightly at the mech she almost killed today.

"And here I thought this day couldn't get any better." Hound commented and grinned as he put his arms around the two Datsun mechs. Everyone laughed –including Prowl- and enjoyed a picturesque view of the sun setting upon a place they all silently, vowed to never return to.

* * *

Those were the good ol' days—the days I wish I could still have. War is cruel. I wish there was something I could have done, but I remembered an important fact: I am mortal now. I am over twelve-billion years old. It is about time this old bag of bones and steel can rest for a little while, I suppose.

I am on Cybertron now, waiting for my time to come, and watching my baby girl grow up into a beautiful woman. She has fallen for one of them, just like I did. Heh, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Today, I shall leave my little home that used to house two, and slowly make my way with my walking cane (that can convert into a blaster for those "just-in-case moments"), to greet the boys once more. As I leave the comfort of my home, I am attacked by a thousand stimulants all at once. The beautiful starry scenery is all that Cybertron is blessed to see. Daylight never hits this planet, but that does not mean the beauty of this planet is diminished. Thousands of those tinkling stars light up the surface of this metallic planet. I am fairly certain I have visited at least a hundred of those specks in the sky. Those specks light up something even more beautiful than the Grand Canyon: Iacon. Truly, this is the New York City of Cybertron. There are more lights in that city than there are Cybertronians. It is a good thing these people do not have to worry about the effects of pollution. I won't be around long enough for it to kill me. But it is not the dazzling light display that makes this city sparkle like a Kaiburr crystal; it is the structures the Cybertronians have crafted. They have perfected the balance between sharp spires and round towers. Some of the designs are so farfetched; I cannot describe in words what they look like.

Cybertron is a beautiful planet to live on. The people here look up –realistically, down—at me. No matter if I know their names or not, they all know mine. They call me by my name or by some silly nickname like _savior,_ or _grandmother_. The last one makes me feel a little old. Just now, I see a Cybertronian couple named Springer and Arcee heading my way. I remember fighting alongside those two a long, long time ago on this very planet fighting for—oh, silly me. I don't want to give away _all_ the details. That story will come later.

"Hey, Sapphire! How's the morning walk today? We haven't seen you in a few orbital cycles. We were just on our way to check up on you." Springer, the tall, pine green triple-changer, cheerfully greeted me with a smile upon his faceplate. Such a sweetheart. He was holding the hand of his partner, Arcee, a shorter pink-and-white femme. She smiled warmly at me as well. I just chuckled, and waved off the green one.

"I may be getting old, but I can still throttle you by a flick of my hand." I used my psychic powers to separate the two Cybertronians. I watched with a twinkle in my eye as they flailed helplessly in the air, trying to break free of my grasp. The temptation was there, but I repressed my disorder's cravings for death.

"Hey, now! I was only kidding!" Springer laughed as he was trying to reach for Arcee. I smiled at the two lovebirds and placed them carefully back onto the metallic sidewalk we were all sharing. I continued my way towards my destination, but those two stuck to me like glue.

"Where are you going today, Sapphire?" Arcee asked me without a care in the world.

"I'm going to see the boys today." Their smiles faded.

"Oh," was all she replied.

"Would you care if we joined you?" Springer quietly asked me.

"Of course, dear. I wouldn't mind some company today. I believe they will be delighted to see you two." Good heavens, I mentally criticize myself for allowing my raspy voice to crack slightly. Everything is starting to break down.

"I wouldn't put it past them." Springer replied with a sad smile. Such a darling mech. Arcee will be happy for the rest of her days with this mech, so long as the peace remains amongst the people. It has taken almost nine million years, but the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons has ended. The ending was—brutal, but an ending is an ending, I suppose. It is a shame Megatron died. Some people still disagree with my views about that brutal mech. They were still holding grudges against him for what he did in the past. Truly, tragedy at its best. But he changed that day; the day I became one of the most important beings alive on this planet. He saw what he could have transformed into if he continued following his destructive path of revolution. He saw a monster so vile; it would consume his planet in a screaming cacophony of fire and twisted metal. He loved this planet too much to kill it.

The screams of the walking dead, continue to haunt my dreams.

Such a terrible day indeed, but the subsequent days after were the birth of a new age: The rejuvenation of Cybertron. It is a shame it takes an invasion to unify a dysfunctional planet. How many deaths will come if another war ensues? Hopefully, such a conflict will not occur in the little time I have left in my existence. I would be forced to unleash my _other_ self once more. If I do that again, I will most definitely lose control of my mind.

Oh, silly me, I have been ranting for far too long. Where were we now?

"Sapphire, do you think they would like some of those meta-gami flowers over there?" Arcee pointed to a hover cart filled to the brim with dozens of the meta-gami flowers that were metallic roses. The mech at the cart's edge folded long sheets of flimsy metal –they looked a lot like aluminum to me- and created beautiful floral designs out of them. I could barely recall my studies on Earth –curse this aging body of mine once again!-, but I did remember what a handful of flowers used to symbolize on that planet.

"Would you care to grab me about two dozen, dear?" I shakily held out my right palm. There were enough Cybertronian Credits in it to buy the whole cart of meta-gami flowers. Arcee was reluctant to grab all the credits. I smiled at her naive nature. "Tell him to keep the change."

A few moments later, she returned with two bouquets of the metallic roses whose colors spanned the entire spectrum of the rainbow. She offered the flowers to me. I smiled and once more, used my powers to pluck them from her dainty arms.

"Now, now, what shapes shall I make of these?" I pondered out loud as I manipulated the flower petals on half of them. "How about some Hyacinths?" Three flowers suddenly transformed into violet vases, with six, curly petals. "Some Asters wouldn't hurt," three more flowers folded into what looked like an explosion of lavender colored petals. "Daffodils for certain," another group of three roses quickly morphed into yellow, crowned trumpets. "I think I should add some Zinnias, too," finally, I chose three more, and re-folded the metal petals into saffron colored, flat, spoon heads layered on top of one another. Arcee and Springer watched with wonderment as I crafted the flowers using my mind. The only alteration I made on the other twelve roses were their colors. They all were crimson colored.

"Wow," Springer breathed. I smiled. This race never ceases to amaze me.

"Now, shall we continue?" I called over my shoulder to the couple. "I'll leave you two behind if you don't hurry up."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Readers, pretend a Transformer can drive from Portland to Arizona in…10 hours, okay? Great! *derpy face*

First off, I want to say this will be the FINAL chapter in A Life To Live. Now, before you all start crying, I will have a sequel coming up sometime in the future. ^^

Secondly, this shift to 1st person view at the end will be explained…later!

Finally, I would like to say suicide is a very touchy subject to bring up, let alone write about. I have had friends whose family members have killed themselves, and it's a terrible thing to be put through. My father tried to commit suicide a few years ago (even though I don't like him for personal reasons, it's still an unnerving thing to experience), and I can say I have thought about it in the past...it's not a fun thing to experience. Really, it isn't. This is going to sound corny, but if you know someone who is thinking or may be thinking about suicide, please help them. Help them remember who they are leaving behind, and help them remember who still loves them and wants them to live. It seems most people have forgotten that one person can make a difference. One person can save another person's life.

On a happier note, this has taken me three years to make, and I want to give a big round of applause for everyone who has read, commented, and supported my efforts throughout the years! ^_^

***Random crowd of people appears and begins to clap wildly***

Also, The White Eagle bar _does_ exist and it is haunted. ^^ Google it if you don't believe me.

Mando'a used in chapter _(and last chapter because I'm a dummy and forgot)_:

**Chapter 9:**

_Usen'ye utreekove—_Get the hell away, you idiots.

_Vode—_Brothers/Comrades

Verburyc—"Loyal"

_Hut'uun— _Coward (worst possible insult)

**Chapter 10:**

_Ori'vod- _big brother, older brother, special friend.

_Shi'yayc_—Yellow (city of yellow)

_Verburyc_—"Loyal"


End file.
